The event was attended by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta, President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Ángel Gurría, Director-General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan, Vice-President of the European Commission Kristalina Georgieva, other prominent political figures, leaders of international organizations, and members of the academic community.
In her opening address, President Dalia Grybauskaitė underlined that violence against women affected each and every person.
“Violence against women is a grave crime that tramples human dignity, violates human rights and incites discrimination. It affects not only women, but entire families and all layers of society. Physical, psychological and emotional abuse destroys the quality of life and work. Medical, legal and social costs are the price of violence that all of us have to pay,” the President said.
Last year, forty thousand reports on domestic violence were filed in Lithuania. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence. It is a global problem with a cost of around 2 percent of the global GDP. In the European Union alone, the cost of violence against women is estimated at 225 billion euros. This is over 23 times the size of the United Nations’ yearly budget.
According to the President, putting a price tag on violence against women enables better understanding of the scope of the problem and encourages more effective countermeasures. At the initiative of the Presidents of Lithuania and Chile, a summary of the discussion was presented to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, highlighting the cost of gender-based violence and urging to streamline international efforts in combating it.
The participants of the high-level discussion also addressed effective help to women who have been victims of violence and shared best practices on counter-violence programmes.
Fighting violence against women is among the priorities of the national “For a Safe Lithuania” campaign launched by President Dalia Grybauskaitė.
