Ms Pavilionienė stressed that after Lithuania's accession to the European Union the focus on gender equality was much narrower than before. Moreover, the legislation promoting gender equality was being blocked at the Seimas, whereas initiatives aggravating the situation were welcomed. Marija Aušrinė Pavilionienė also noted that Lithuania had not yet adopted laws on reproductive health and artificial insemination and could offer no high quality sex education. "The lack of such laws and programmes has a negative influence on girls' and women's health and on the prevention of trafficking in human beings," the member of the Seimas said during the meeting.
Then, Ms Purvaneckienė pointed out that there were two draft laws on prohibition of abortion before parliament. Similarly, she underlined that the accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the EU had a negative impact on women's rights, since the new Member States tried to ignore gender equality agenda. Giedrė Purvaneckienė remarked that though women in Lithuania were well integrated into the labour market, no legislative framework was in place to ensure equal opportunities.
Ms Kuodytė emphasized that delays in ratifying the Istanbul Convention had an adverse effect on the fight against domestic violence and did not contribute to the progress in women's rights.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs urged to focus more on the pay gap between men and women and on sharing of family responsibilities, those being the reasons for women's less active role in the labour market and public life. She added that public mobilisation and co-operation with NGOs were needed to eliminate gender-based violence and discrimination against women.
At the end of the meeting, Ms Pavilionienė expressed hope that the European Union would implement the recommendations of the European Parliament to include gender equality in all internal and external EU programmes and invited to joint efforts and turn gender equality issues into real policy rather than commitments on paper.