Centre «MARTA» Latvia

1. Centre «MARTA» work,
Sexual violence and gender
equality in Latvian society.
http://usvreact.eu
#USVreact

3. Centre MARTA
Year 2000 originating from cooperation of the
Swedish «Martha» Association in Finland and
Women Organizations of Latvia. Registered with
the status of an association in year 2004;
Psychological, social and juridical support for
women in Latvia: non-citizens and migrants; women
with low income and unemployed women; victims
of human trafficking and domestic violence.
Advocacy in national level;
Mission: elimination of violence against women and
promotion of women rights and gender equality.
Background information

4. Invisibility of sexual violence
Sexuality and other “intimate” themes as a taboo;
Amendments to Latvian Constitution, article 111. (2005);
«The State shall protect and support marriage – a union
between a man and a woman, the family, the rights of parents
and rights of the child.»
Influence of Church in discussions about Istanbul
convention;
Amendments to education law - discussions about sex
education in Latvian schools (2015);
«[..] schools will henceforth be obliged to give children 'moral
education' in line with the values of the Constitution, most
notably with regard to the primacy of conventional ideas of what
constitutes marriage and family life.»
Historical reasons

5. Knowledge about sexual violence
in universities?
Research in beginning;
“Sexual violence against man.” (2015)
Facebook page “The closed” for homosexual youth,
parents, teachers etc. (since 2010)
Peripheral remarks

6. Prevention of violence;
Boy's clubs;
Forum “Stand Up”
What’s done: MARTA actions

7. Public discussions, lectures, interviews;
Broad and undefined audience as target
group;
Conference for professionals;
Students as target group - how to
implement the USVreact programme;
What’s planned: “Stand Up”
and (sexual) violence
Central theme of autumn-winter 2017/2018

8. USVreact programme and how to
use it in Latvia's context
Preliminary remarks
Institutional question - how to use it for the purposes of
MARTA and for the Universities;
Problems: urgency to deal with sexual violence, financial
support and political will;
Semiresearch - gathering of information for further
research and strengtening of MARTA position -
different focusgroups of students (boys, girls, mixed
groups) and some focusgroup of teachers;
Example: New Center MARTA in Liepāja - Liepājas
University;
Initiating collaboration with University institutions, to
pass on the praxis, if they're interested.