Analytics, Legislation, Lithuania, Society

Each year the Seimas Ombudsmen ask Lithuanians whether they have enough information about the human rights defenders who may help them in case their rights are violated in municipal and governmental institutions.

This year’s survey based on a representative public poll showed that fifty four% of respondents would know where to request help in case their rights were violated, in comparison to 27,9% of respondents  in 2012.

The survey also has revealed that 42% of Lithuanians would address the Seimas Ombudsmen, whereas in 2013 only 34,5% of respondents knew where to address and  in 2012 – 24,3%.

The researchers observed that younger and more educated respondents knew where to address in case their rights were violated. Moreover, people with higher salaries (70 % of respondents) and living in cities (58%) knew better of a possibility to address different human rights defenders.

The survey conducted in November 2014 revealed that residents of cities knew human rights defenders better than residents of villages. However, residents of Kaunas and Marijampolė were more familiar with human rights defenders as compared to residents of the capital of Lithuania in 2013. It is interesting to note, that residents of the regions of Vilnius and Kaunas, the two largest cities of Lithuania, lack the knowledge about the functions of the Seimas Ombudsmen.

Almost one fifth (18%) of respondents complained that their rights were violated in municipal and governmental institutions, compared to 12 % in 2012 and 15,2 %  in 2011.