The Nordic countries, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus face many of the same issues when it comes to gender equality, sexism, and gendered violence. When it comes to sexual violence and sexist behavior, inequalities can still be seen in both Nordic-Baltic regions and Belarus. According to the UN Global Database, between 20 % Estonian and 32 % Danish and Latvian women aged 18-74 have been exposed to sexual or physical partner violence.
Project purpose and goals
The key objective of the project is to create a platform where women can feel safe enough to tell their stories of sexual violence and sexism. The project aims to raise awareness of issues of gender inequality, sexism, and gendered violence and harassment. The hope is to create a feeling of cross-national community and to help strengthen Nordic values of gender equality, bring attention to a serious and pervasive problem, and hopefully, in the long run, help mobilize a will to change the current situation.
The project also aims to create a space for female literary voices and discussion of feminist issues in literature and art. The goal is to strengthen intercultural dialogue between the participating countries as well as to promote prominent Danish and Icelandic female writers and activists and their work with sexism and violence, thereby exposing the strong traditions of Nordic feminist culture to a Baltic and Belarusian audience
Project target groups
- Women who have experienced sexual violence and harassment
- Broader general audience
- Film, art, and literature professionals
Partners
- The Danish Cultural Institute
- Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania
- The project has partnered film festivals and women’s organizations in the relevant countries. These include: Scanorama Film festival in Lithuania, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival in Belarus, Centrs MARTA in Latvia, Kvennaathvarf in Iceland, Feministeerium in Estonia, Radislava in Belarus
Key events and activities
The traveling video exhibition in Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia, and Latvia from October to December. Each exhibition will have an opening discussion with Nordic and local artists, activists, and other experts.
The exhibition in Lithuania will be displayed from 4th of November until 17th of November in Vilnius at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and will be opened with a discussion between the Danish feminist activist and gender policy consultant Emma Holten, the Lithuanian researcher Dr. Vilana Pilinkaite Sotirovic, who does advocacy work on issues of gender equality, prevention and protection of gender-based violence, and the Lithuanian writer and education expert Unė Kaunaitė.
The event will be streamed online on the Danish Cultural Institute’s Facebook page, made available for viewers across borders.
Please visit www.dki.lv/voices-of-violence-2021 and follow www.facebook.com/dki.lv, for more details.
