The Lithuanian Women's Council () or LMT was an umbrella organization of various women's societies and organizations in interwar Lithuania. Established in 1929, it represented democratic and social-democratic ideas, as women Catholics had their own umbrella organization, established in 1922. LMT became a member of the International Council of Women and represented Lithuania in various international congresses. The council was financed by the government and included many wives of politicians of the authoritarian regime of President Antanas Smetona. As such, it did not actively protest government policies even if they were detrimental to women. The most significant political victory of LMT was prohibition of prostitution in 1935. The organization was dissolved after the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in June 1940.
History
Establishment
In the early 1920s, there was an increasing number of various committees, societies, and organizations seeking to aid women and orphans, improve morale, and provide education. There was a need to unite and better coordinate their efforts. The idea of an umbrella organization was raised by Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė in September 1927. A year later, of the International Council of Women visited Lithuania and encouraged women to join the international movement. The organizational committee was established on 16 September 1928 and included Ona Mašiotienė, Jadvyga Tūbelienė, Felicija Bortkevičienė, Paulina Kalvaitytė. The first organizational meeting took place on 9 December 1928. It was attended by representatives of 14 organizations, including the Society of Lithuanian Catholic Women. The meeting failed to establish the LMT and the second organizational meeting took place on 17 February 1929. This time 17 organizations participated, but not the Society of Lithuanian Catholic Women (in 1933 it had more than 30,000 members – more than all members of LMT combined). The meeting adopted LMT statute which stated that LMT was a cultural and not a political organization. The meeting also elected an 8-member board chaired by Ona Mašiotienė.
Political activities
LMT asked Prime Minister Juozas Tūbelis (husband of Jadvyga Tūbelienė) for financial support and received it. This allowed the authoritarian regime of President Antanas Smetona to influence and control activities of LMT, which would send protest notes and petitions but would not take more active measures. The government pushed women to "return home" and away from politics and job markets, particularly during the Great Depression. In 1935, when Kaunas city decided to terminate all women doctors, the Union of the Lithuanian Women with Higher Education (Lietuvos moterų, baigusių aukštąjį mokslą, sąjunga) complained to the International Federation of University Women which forwarded it to the League of Nations. The complaint was included in a report on women's rights in 23 countries presented to the League during its 16th assembly in September 1935, but the League passed no resolutions. LMT decided to encourage handicrafts, small businesses, and cooperatives.
LMT took up prostitution as one of its most important issues and managed to achieve its prohibition in 1935; it was its greatest political achievement. LMT tried, but failed, to gain seats in the government institutions. In late 1929, LMT requested President Smetona to co-opt representatives of women organizations to the president-appointed State Council, an advisory legislative body established by the Constitution of 1928. The President tentatively agreed and asked for a list of candidates, but the plan failed due to ideological disagreements between LMT and the Lithuanian Women's Union, supported by the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.
In 1929, the government adopted a new law on municipal elections to increase its influence in the local government. The law restricted voting rights to those who owned property and paid taxes. That eliminated a good number of women and their share in the electorate dropped to about one-third. In 1936, new elections to Seimas were held and LMT sought to register women candidates, but managed to register only Eugenija Čepulytė-Klupšienė (1897–1989) in Šiauliai. She lost and LMT blamed electoral fraud but its complaints went unanswered. It was the first parliament without women representatives since the declaration of independence in 1918.