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%).
Every third resident of Serbia has significant mental disorders, but despite this, Serbia does not have enough resources for adequate care of the nation's mental health. The number of children and young people with behavioral problems is increasing, but the capacity of the social protection system to respond to this problem is decreasing. There are not enough psychologists or social workers, it is necessary to reorganize the health and social protection system, if society intends to really oppose the growing violence.
On the occasion of June 19, the International Day of Combating Sexual Violence in Conflicts, Women in Black and the Autonomous Women's Center are organizing a protest in mourning and silence "We remember women raped in war", on June 19, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Republic Square in Belgrade.
At the end of May, the Autonomous Women's Center, together with Women in Black and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, launched a mini-campaign with the aim of raising awareness of the disadvantageous position of women who survived sexual violence during the wars of the 1990s and the request that they be recognized as civilian victims of war.
The period covered by this Report – from November 2023 to April 2024 – was marked by the extraordinary parliamentary and local elections, which caused the Government to spend this entire time in a technical mandate. As Serbia had three parliamentary elections in the last five years, such a situation didn’t seem unusual.
From May 24 to 26, the Autonomous Women's Center (AWC) held a seminar on the topic of Global challenges of applying the concept of "parental alienation" in divorce proceedings, decisions on custody, and contact of the child with the parent in the case of violence against women and children. The seminar was held in Belgrade and was attended by 18 representatives of women's organizations from Serbia, who had the opportunity to learn about the topic through presentations and exchange of experiences with lecturers and prosecutors of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade.
On the occasion of May 18, the Day of Remembrance of Women Victims of Violence, the Autonomous Women's Center presented the Femicide Memorial platform, after which the Autonomous Women's Center, Women in Black, and Women's Solidarity held a joint street action #Remember murdered women! in front of the National Assembly. Both events were organized to remember the 406 women and girls who were killed in Serbia in the period from 2011 to 2023 in the context of family-partner or sexual violence.
Konstrakta, Tanja Bošković, Tamara Dragićević, Bojana Vunturišević, Jelena Stupljanin, Sajsi and other brave women carry red handbags and invite companies and citizens to support the AWC Fund. It is a fund that AWC uses to pay urgent expenses for women who are in a situation of violence: medical examinations, court fees, emergency accommodation, free legal aid, food, hygiene or textbooks for children, payment of transportation costs for going to institutions, etc.
The Autonomous Women's Center, symbolically on International Women's Day, is launching an important campaign that invites citizens to join the fight against abuse and unauthorized sharing of intimate photos and videos. Under the slogan "Swear to the law", the campaign carries a strong message and directly invites you to sign the petition, which has a clear goal - passing a law that qualifies the unauthorized sharing of intimate content as a criminal offense.
