On 9 November, the International Day against Fascism and Anti-Semitism was commemorated. This day serves as an annual occasion to celebrate our unity against new forms of fascism and anti-Semitism. Since 1993, UNITED is responsible for ensuring that its importance would not be ignored. 17 years after the European Union adopted anti-discrimination laws have passed, but, sadly, some communities in our society still experience widespread discrimination, thus the need to raise this issue still persists.

Although today’s society is much more responsible in evaluating one’s words than it used to be and is aware of the consequences how it may affect another person’s life, even people themselves admit that there is still room for improvement. For example, Karolina, 21, (name changed) says that discriminatory statements or comments against different groups in society are not so rare. However, according to the girl, most of them come from the older people, i.e., parents, grandparents and other relatives.

"I think that young people, and I am not an exception, see many things differently than their parents or grandparents do. Of course, I do not want to be angry with them or condemn them for their opinions, because it would also be a certain form of discrimination, but when I hear discriminating comments about certain social group, race, nationality or even gender, I, as a young person, feel very bad. It does not fit into my head that even nowadays there are people who still think that their rights are more important than the rights of other people. I think that is the first thing that parents should teach their children – that all people deserve equal respect," a young girl thinks.

According to Karolina, for the older people the most sensitive topic remains the goals and activities of the LGBT community.

"Although I do not have a direct connection to the LGBT community, I consider myself tolerant, so sometimes statements from older people about homosexual relationships and other similar topics do offend me a lot, I feel sorry for those people. Sometimes comments on social media make me very sad, I cannot believe that in the 21st century people are still questioning such things and condemning those who choose a different way of living," she shared.

Karolina admits that, luckily, manifestations of fascism and anti-Semitism among her peers are extremely rare.

"I am very picky of people I am dealing with in my life, pay attention to the slightest details, so I can assure you that my social environment is tolerant of diversity. Maybe it’s because we are a generation that grew up with social networks and the ability to explore the world without even leaving the house. Although our elders consider the Internet and our constant browsing a bad thing, it has obviously taught us many useful things, for example, helped to develop tolerance and ability to accept other people’s uniqueness and particularities without any fear," she says.

However, she notes, various shocking experiences do greatly affect the younger generation and their attitudes towards certain things.

"I am not saying that young people are perfect and do not make any mistakes, that they are the example of tolerance and never discriminate others, I am not saying that. A clear example of their flaws is what we have seen and heard in society since the war in Ukraine broke. The whole world was and still is in shock by these atrocious events. We stand together with Ukraine, we want to see it free, we feel sorry for all these innocent people, but at the same time fail to notice how cruel we are ourselves," Karolina explains and emphasizes that sometimes the strong support for the Ukrainian people is expressed through an absolute hate towards Russian citizens.

"I have friends who were born and raised in Lithuania, but their surname is Russian. And more than once they told me that, since the war in Ukraine began, they are afraid and uncomfortable to say their surname out loud, are afraid in the supermarket or other public space to speak to their parents or grandparents not in Lithuanian, but, for example, in the Russian language, even though they speak Russian at home since their childhood. They are simply afraid of those angry condemning looks, afraid of being, to put it nicely, asked to go back to their roots are and so on," she shares.

According to Karolina, this is just one out of many examples when people simply find themselves in such unpleasant situations because of what they are, certain characteristics that they have and are unable to do something about it.

"I know that in Lithuania people still face discrimination on the grounds of many various reasons, but I think that we as society have already undergone drastic changes, and I am very positive that my children and my grandchildren will be more understanding and tolerant of others. I am convinced that discrimination is the worst way to express one’s opinion or views on certain things," Karolina thinks.

It is accepted to believe that tolerance for diversity is growing all over the world, and that people’s attitudes towards certain things have already gone a long way from what we have seen or heard before. As it was emphasised in a commentary by the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights (LCHR), in the last few hundred years the field of human rights also have undergone an important transformation.

"Slavery has been abolished, women have been given the right to vote, same-sex relationships are no longer a crime (with an exception of a few countries), the main legal acts protecting human rights have been drafted, and much more positive changes have happened," Monika Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė, LHRC Advocacy Manager, and Kristina Rūkaitė, Research Manager, explain.

According to the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, every society who has an opportunity to see beyond the boundaries drawn earlier, becomes more aware, but, unfortunately, some things fail to change.

"Certain negative prejudices are so deeply rooted that still do exist in our minds. Of course, it can be understood. If you have grown in an environment where women had less rights than men and people with darker skin were not considered equal, it is very difficult to start thinking differently," the commentary provides.

However, according to the LHRC representatives, there is one more thing that is worth consideration.

"Negative attitudes do not necessarily stem from old, stereotypical traditions; changing historical and political contexts may lead to negative attitudes or hostility towards certain communities or groups of individuals, and they can be, and still are, actively promoted to this day. For this very reason awareness is not increasing by itself. It needs to be continuously fostered and encouraged," the representatives explain.

The situation in Lithuania do not differ from the rest of the world.

"Homosexual relations in Lithuania were decriminalised only in 1993, so it is not surprising that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is still so prevalent, although positive changes are also evident," the LHRC comment states.

According to the LHRC, since 2005, in Lithuania social distance surveys have also been carried out in order to find out which social groups experience the greatest exclusion or discrimination.

"As far as the LGBTQ+ community is concerned, in 2005, according to social surveys, 61% of the Lithuanian population did not want homosexuals to live in their neighbourhood. In 2022, the number decreased to 36%," the representatives explain.

Racial and national intolerance still prevail in Lithuania.

"For almost 20 years, the group that has experienced the greatest exclusion and hatred was Roma people. In 2005, 77% of Lithuanians did not want to have Roma neighbours, and in 2022 the number felt only slightly to 59%. In 2022, Muslims and refugees were also viewed unfavourably. Accordingly, 37.5% and 33% of Lithuanians were unwilling to rent a home to them," the LHRC commentary reads.

According to the LHRC, situation is improving, but discrimination in Lithuania is still very high.

"Discrimination still occurs in the fields of education, health care, consumer rights, as well there still are hate crimes based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, skin colour, language and others," Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė and Rūkaitė say.

It is believed that each generation is more and more aware and tolerant, but according to the LHRC, while surveys show the youth’s favour of certain human rights issues, age does not determine one’s openness and tolerance.

"We can talk about the historical legacy, the Soviet past, where part of our society grew up and lived, and this part now is extremely intolerant towards certain groups of people. The younger generation grew up in a free, democratic state, where protection of human rights forms the basis of the Constitution," the LHRC explains.

According to the representatives of the LHRC, although the younger generation is more open-minded in general, at the same time young people are very vulnerable to various new movements that are fuelling negative attitudes.

"Sexism based fight for men’s rights is just one example. Men are starting to blame women and women’s rights movements for their poor social or emotional status, women are made scapegoats of their problems," the commentary states.

The observations made in the LHRC commentary are consistent with Karolina’s opinion: the prejudice towards one or another community or group of people usually is the result of certain historical and political events.

"Certain groups or societies achieve their goals or justify certain actions by undermining, humiliating or discriminating, sadly, these are very effective tools. For example, during the colonial period, the theory of evolution was popular and widely exploited to position the whites as superior to people of other skin colours. That served as justification for colonial expansion and its brutality on a large scale," Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė and Rūkaitė say.

According to the LHRC, such events affect societies deeply from within, thus awareness and tolerance are not always age related.

As it is clear from the LHRC commentary, war or terrorist attacks are shocking events that often trigger the search for the guilty ones, someone to blame, thus often people, both consciously or unconsciously, become angry with certain group of people, but there are some key things that we all should bear in mind.

"The war in Ukraine has shown that people tend targeting their anger quite directly and not always appropriately, and, as the war erupted, the Russians in Lithuania or the Russian-speakers in Lithuania became the target. It should not be forgotten that nationality has nothing to do with the war – certain individuals and state leaders are responsible, and they decisions do not depend on their nationality, ethnicity or skin colour," explains the LHRC.

In such situations, media plays very important role and bears great responsibility.

"This year’s study "Lithuania’s non-discrimination policy: the cases of the Jewish and Roma communities in Lithuania" (by Kristina Rūkaitė and Monika Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė) has revealed the huge stigma that the Roma community is still facing, as the media mostly mentions them in a criminal context. In the study, representatives of the Roma community shared how this affects their daily lives and the exclusion they experience," said Guliakaitė-Danisevičienė and Rūkaitė.

According to the representatives of the LHRC, the Roma example illustrates the need to develop responsible media that do not engage in promoting prejudices and discrimination.

It is evident that there is still a lot to be done in fostering tolerance both in Lithuania and worldwide, and we are the ones who are responsible for that positive change to happen.

"First of all, it’s worth putting oneself in the shoes of a discriminated person: to think about what it would be like to be discriminated based on your nationality, blamed for the actions of certain politicians, denied services because of your skin colour, or be afraid to go to certain public places because of your origins. It is very effective to image oneself in the place of the other and ask yourself whether being Lithuanian really means superiority over others," the LHRC advises.

What is more, the LHRC representatives remind that some words or actions may have serious consequences.

"The Criminal Code of Lithuania criminalizes incitement of hate – bullying, humiliation, contempt, discrimination or encouraging hate against particular group of people on the grounds of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, skin colour and many more. Comments on the Internet and behaviour on the street also count," explains the LHRC.