In different parts of Lithuania, the Program helped 307 girls, who suffer or have suffered physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; who live in poverty or in families that do not take care of them.
About the project: Girls suffer from sexual violence by 48% more often than boys. In Lithuania women living in poverty are mostly aged 16-24. Every year more than 1000 women and girls from Lithuania become victims of human trafficking. The number of girls aged 15-19 who terminate pregnancy is increasing.
With the aim of eliminating the previously mentioned causes, Save the Children Lithuania has been implementing the “Girls’ program” since 2002. The long-term goal of this program is to give girls of risk group from cities, towns and countryside the opportunity to (re-)integrate to the society by teaching them and developing their life and social skills, by providing the necessary help and support.
The aim of the project was to give 300 girls, who live in poverty, who don‘t have the necessary means (who don‘t know what a shower is, don‘t have hot water, necessary items for school, clothes, etc.), who are pregnant or have already born babies, who have difficulties learning, the opportunity to improve their lives on their own by providing the necessary knowledge and teaching them to take care of themselves, to plan their future, by making the girls used to learn and work responsibly, communicate and spend their leisure appropriately (not on the streets, consuming alcohol, etc.).
During the project the following classes were organized for the girls: violence and protection from violence, human trafficking, safe relationships, conflict solving, etc. The classes for the girls were organized by social workers, social pedagogues, who work with girls at Children‘s day centers. Children‘s day center is a center where children spend their time after school; there they are educated, taught to behave properly, appropriately take care of themselves; there the leisure and proper occupation of the children is being organized, free alimentation is provided, the families of the children are being consulted. The classes for the girls took place in Children‘s day centers, located in 15 cities, towns and villages (in Raguvėlė village (Anykščiai reg.), Akmenė, Druskininkai, Kazlų Rūda (Kazlų Rūda, Jankai village, Bagotoji village), Kupiškis, Marijampolė, Rokiškis, Šakiai, Šiauliai, Širvintos, Bagaslaviškis (Širvintos village), Tauragė, Ukmergė, Vilnius).
The girls also received psychological help, which they lack – especially the girls, living in towns and villages, where there are too few psychologists and opportunities to get help. The raised donations helped to provide the girls with the necessary help and support, to organize classes and generally improve the lives of the girls.
Swedbank matched 1,932 Litas of yours and the project successfully raised all the necessary sum!