Media Conference
May 17^th 2023, at 11 am
Media Center, Terazije 3
Great Hall, II floor

The Autonomous Women’s Center invites you to a media conference
in commemoration of May 18^th – Remembrance Day of Women Victims of Violence

Presentation of the initiative to hold a public hearing on the case of the woman murdered in Pirot

#WeDemandAnswers

Speakers and topics of the conference:

1. Slavica Radovanovic, MP, Deputy President of the Board for the Rights of Children: activities and initiatives of MPs in relation to solving the problem of violence against women and children
2. Biljana Dordevic, MP, member of the Board for Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality: activities and initiatives of MPs in relation to solving the problem of violence against women and children
3. Vanja Macanovic, Autonomous Women’s Center: presentation of the initiative to hold a public hearing on the case of the woman murdered in Pirot

Serbia saw an increase of femicides in 2022 (25 women and one girl) in relation to 2021 (20 women), while there have been 15 murders of women and two girls in the first five months of the current year. Also, in 2022 we have seen an increase reports of abuse where the perpetrator was reported to authorities prior to committing murder – in 7 cases, compared to 5 cases in 2021, while in 3 femicide cases from 2023 we know for certain that the perpetrator had been previously reported to the authorities.

The Autonomous Women’s Center holds representatives of institutions, whose inaction and/or wrong courses of action lead to the murders of women in cases of abuse that had been reported to them, directly responsible for the fact that large numbers of women have lost trust that institutions will protect them if they report the abuser. We assume that this is the reason why there is such a large number of women murdered in femicide who had not reported the abuse prior to being murdered.

In order to regain the women’s trust in institutions and prevent new femicide cases (as happened in Pirot, Leskovac, Novi Sad) as those so far have resulted from institutional failure because no one has been held personally responsible for their (in)action or wrong course of action, we demand that the Board for Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality of the National Parliament:

• Request from relevant institutions in Pirot and on the state level that they answer questions regarding what course of action they took in relation to reports of abuse made by now deceased Sanja M., and to answer questions on whether they monitored actions taken after Sanja M. was murdered;
• Organize a public hearing where representatives of public institutions would publically answer the questions they’ve been asked;
• Determine what omissions were made in relation to Sanja M.’s case in Pirot – some being caused by the fact that the law does not adequately regulate institutional conduct, others being connected to personal responsibility of those who worked on her case, what actions they took or didn’t take, or took the wrong course of action in relation to now deceased Sanja M.’s reports of abuse;
• Initiate disciplinary proceedings against those responsible who failed to act or took the wrong course of action in relation to abuse reports made by now deceased Sanja M.;
• Initiate changes to the Criminal Code and other laws in order to improve the rights of those wronged/victims to protection and provision of information.