An investigation on providing assistance to victims of domestic violence revealed a sad reality: assistance to victims of violence is often still unavailable, those who call the police are still left alone with the perpetrator, and assistance often includes purely formal oral consultations, despite the obvious need for specific assistance. These and other striking conclusions were drawn by the Seimas Ombudsman Augustinas Normantas, having summarized the results of the investigation into the provision of assistance to persons, who had experienced domestic violence.

The Seimas Ombudsman also draws attention to the fact that police officers are usually the first to react to information about domestic violence, but in the absence of obvious signs of physical violence, other types of violence are not always recorded. The Seimas Ombudsman regrets that the potential psychological, economic violence or harassment of victims is often underestimated by officials; therefore, pre-trial investigations are often not initiated and vulnerable victims continue to be left alone with the perpetrator, making them unsafe and subjected to further violence, threats.

“Police officers do not always identify signs of domestic violence, which leads to gaps in the organization of services for victims. During the investigation, the Police Department acknowledged that in the absence of obvious signs of physical violence and in case of the potential victim’s refusal or fear of explaining the circumstances of the incident, it is difficult to prove that the person actually suffered from domestic violence. Finally, there are situations where victims of violence no longer trust the police authority, avoid seeking help, and the perpetrator, who remains unpunished, begins to commit even more violence,” says the Seimas Ombudsman.

The report of the performed investigation also states that there is a lack of specialists providing assistance, lack of safe accommodation, and limited opportunities for individuals to provide free transportation to the place of provision of services. Worse still, assistance is provided only on weekdays and services are not always effective, not all victims of domestic violence can financially and geographically access services of those entities and the services do not always effectively improve the situation of victims. For this reason, it is necessary to increase the quality and accessibility of social services for victims of violence.

“Moreover, the dissemination of information about assistance to people, who have experienced domestic violence, in the country is not sufficient, because people often do not know where to turn and where to get such help, which is especially relevant in districts far from major Lithuanian cities. In the course of the investigation, we found out that, in the opinion of victims of violence, their access to help is hindered by fear, the consequences of stress, difficult to prove violence, distrust in their own strengths and institutions, and the competence of specialists as well as skepticism of police investigators in cases of violence,“ the Seimas Ombudsman enumerates the problems.

The Seimas Ombudsman also notes that those, who have experienced domestic violence, openly express the opinion that they expected a larger package of state-provided assistance services: medical psychotherapy services, as well as psychological and legal assistance. However, the number of professionals working in specialized helpdesks, in particular lawyers and psychologists, who can offer specialist help, is not sufficient to meet the needs of all individuals, and greater involvement of NGOs in this service delivery system is not ensured.

“It is also important to note that domestic violence imposes a duty on states to provide quality and accessible services, primarily for the most statistically exposed people: women and children; however, in the system of assistance provision we also recommend not to eliminate other target groups of persons experiencing domestic violence, i.e. the disabled and the elderly, men, LGBTIQ individuals. Nevertheless, the data collected during the investigation on the availability of targeted services for these groups of persons revealed that the service infrastructure in Lithuania is not sufficiently developed,” states the Seimas Ombudsman.

The Seimas Ombudsman, who was also asked to assess the quality of services provided to those who experienced domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, noted that the main form of assistance to victims of violence was telephone conversations. The Seimas Ombudsman regrets that such form of delivery of services is not as effective as live consultations and other services, as victims of violence during a telephone conversation are usually intimidated by a perpetrator nearby, afraid to open up to professionals.

A. Normantas also notes that, although the legislation defines the content of assistance and the procedure for its provision to victims of domestic violence, in practice the needs of assistance by victims of domestic violence are not always adequately met, and the reporting indicators of physical, mental and sexual, economic or other intentional effects are still relatively high. According to the Seimas Ombudsman, the low availability of services to these persons is determined by the gaps in inter-institutional cooperation, insufficient public awareness of the assistance available, and the lack of entities providing assistance.

Upon learning from the media that children in a privately owned kindergarten in Belgrade have been suffering violence by kindergarten teachers, the Protector of Citizens instigated own-initiative investigation to control work legality and regularity of the Belgrade City Secretariat for Education and Children's Welfare.

The Protector of Citizens requests the Secretariat to submit a report on the activities undertaken in this case within 15 days, as well as a written record on the supervision of the work of the privately owned kindergarten institution "Zamak" in the City Municipality of Voždovac.

Bearing in mind that the City of Belgrade is not the founder of this kindergarten institution, but it only allocates funds for partial reimbursement of expenses of children’s stay in those institutions, the Protector of Citizens requires the Secretariat to include in the report the information on how it carries out the monitoring over the preschool institutions’ work.

• Adequate housing to include high-quality drinking water and sanitation

• Call for an EU-wide goal to end homelessness by 2030

• Housing costs should be kept affordable by law

MEPs call on the EU to recognise access to decent and affordable housing as an enforceable human right and to push for measures to eradicate homelessness.

The resolution – adopted by352 votes in favour, 179 against and 152 abstentions on Thursday – states that decent housing includes access to clean and high-quality drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as connection to sewage and water networks. The right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right that should be enshrined in national and European law, say MEPs.

Minimum mandatory requirements for habitable homes should be introduced at EU level that include healthy indoor air quality and are aligned with WHO guidelines, MEPs urge. They also call on the Commission and member states to prioritise the reduction of emissions and to boost energy efficiency through housing renovation.

Eradicating homelessness by 2030

In many EU countries, rates of homelessness have increased over the last decade due to rising housing costs and social programmes and benefits being cut and suspended.

The resolution reiterates Parliament’s earlier call for an EU-wide goal to end homelessness by 2030. In addition, exceptional measures to prevent homelessness and protect homeless people in the COVID-19 crisis should be maintained – particularly moratoria on evictions and on disconnection from energy supplies as well as the provision of temporary housing.

Keeping housing affordable

MEPs also call on member states and regional and local authorities to put in place legal provisions to protect the rights of tenants and owner-occupiers. Housing is considered affordable if the occupant’s remaining budget is at least sufficient to cover other essential expenditure. While this threshold is currently set at 40%, more than a quarter of European tenants in commercial housing spend a higher percentage of their income on rent, with average rents constantly increasing.

Finally, MEPs point out that the expansive growth of short-term holiday rental is removing housing from the market and driving prices up, which can make living in urban and tourist centres significantly more difficult.

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Rapporteur Kim VAN SPARRENTAK said: “European rules are often better at protecting profit generated by the housing market than protecting people who need a roof over their heads. We need the EU to step up its game and use all the tools available to do its part, together with the member states. The report offers concrete solutions for all levels to take action. We can solve the housing crisis if we want to, and we can end homelessness by 2030.”

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Parliamentary Ombudsman Petri Jääskeläinen has nominated Committee Counsel Matti Marttunen, Doctor of Laws and Master of Laws trained on the bench, as Secretary General of the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Marttunen will take office on 1 March 2021.

Marttunen has worked as Head of the Office of the Constitutional Law Committee and Secretary of the Constitutional Law Committee. Marttunen has also led many legislative projects in the Ministry of Justice and worked as a chairperson for various working groups.

The Secretary General of the Parliamentary Ombudsman is responsible for leading and developing the administration of the Office and for ensuring its effectiveness. The Secretary General also acts as an adviser and, at the order of the Ombudsman, as a decision-maker in administrative matters of the Office. His tasks also include acting as a legal adviser in matters of oversight of legality.

The position of Secretary General received 26 applications. 

For more information, please contact Secretary General Riitta Länsisyrjä, tel. +358 9 432 3363.