Lithuanians increasingly knowledgeable how to defend their rights

According to the results of the poll, conducted by Vilmorus at the request of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, almost 42 percent of respondents would turn to the Seimas Ombudsmen if they felt their rights were violated.

Each year the Seimas Ombudsmen ask Lithuanians whether they have enough information about assistance they may seek in case their rights are violated in municipal and governmental institutions.

This year’s survey, based on a representative public poll, showed that 54 percent of respondents would know where to request help, in comparison to 27.9 % of respondents in 2012.

The survey also has revealed that 42 percent 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 which institutions to address in case their rights were violated. Moreover, people with higher salaries (70 % of respondents) and residents of major cities (58 percent) 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 rural communities. 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 percent) of respondents complained that their rights had been violated in municipal and governmental institutions this year, compared to 12 % in 2012 and 15.2 % in 2011.