Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women. Violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men. Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace.
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993
On Monday, September 30, 2024, the Autonomous Women's Center held a presentation at the Media Center in Belgrade, attended by members of the expert public and media, where they presented the findings of an overview of international standards, comparative solutions, and domestic legal framework, as well as research on judicial practices regarding the use of the concept of "parental alienation" in the context of domestic violence in custody and visitation cases involving a child and the parent they do not live with.
After the proposal of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Financial Support for Families with Children, following an accelerated procedure, was put on the agenda of the second extraordinary session of the National Assembly, the Autonomous Women's Center appealed to all MPs to adopt a new article of the law that would provide for child allowance for children whose mothers are victims of femicide.
During the public hearing on the Action Plan Proposal for the period 2024-2026 for the implementation of the Strategy for the creation of a stimulating environment for the development of the civil sector in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2022-2030, on behalf of women's organizations, the Network of Women Against Violence sent an Open Letter to the Minister, to the Sector for Cooperation with Civil Society and to the Council for the Creation of an Encouraging Environment for the Development of Civil Society. The immediate reason for this is serious security threats to women from organizations in the south of Serbia.
Seven years after the start of the implementation of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence, a central data record has not yet been established, nor is there a publicly available report that integrates data from different sources. The Autonomous Women's Center has been collecting data and preparing reports since the beginning of the implementation of the Law. In 2023, 28,413 incidents of domestic violence were registered, the most in the period 2018-2022. Men were the most frequent perpetrators of domestic violence (82.8%), and among the victims, women were dominantly represented (71.8%).