In a society lacking sex education, young women (and men) learn about the changes their bodies go through, their sexuality, relationships, sex and violence in relationships all on their own, with their peers, online or from magazines. Information is seemingly abundant, however, much of it is false In a myriad of Tik tok videos, Instagram posts and porn sites – which often strengthen rigid gender roles, impose unrealistic beauty standards and standards for relationships and sex, therefore normalizing violent behavior – young women are left to their own devices to discover what is true or false, and what is toxic or not.
To enhance the provision of the social protection services, informal network of women's rights organizations prepared Policy brief on Social Services for Women Who Suffered Gender-Based Violence in the Western Balkans.
The increase in the number of reports of domestic violence events stopped, and the number of events in which the police assessed the risk decreased. The number of police orders was quite similar to the previous year, but there was a significant decrease in the issuance of both emergency measures and significantly fewer temporary eviction measures, probably as a result of fewer risk assessments.
Autonomous Women’s Center conducted a research on actions of Misdemeanor Courts in Serbia regarding misdemeanor charges filled in accrodance with par. 1 of the article 36 of the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence because of the breach of the issued and prolonged emergency measures. The reseacrch was conducted through requesting data from the Misdemeanor Court of Appeal and anonimized judgements of the Misdemeanor Courts in Serbia, as well through the analysis of data from selected misdemeanor decisions based on following criteria: 1) female perpetrators sentenced to prison terms ; 2) perpetrators of both sexes who were fined and 3) perpetrators of both sexes who were acquitted.
As part of the commemoration of May 18 - the Day of Remembrance for Women Victims of Violence, the Autonomous Women's Center organized three forums entitled "Institutional proceedings in cases of high-risk (fatal) domestic violence reports".
The need to improve the provisions of the Criminal Code was observed, not only by civil society organizations, but also by the Government of the Republic of Serbia. To meet this need for changes, which are expected by the end of 2022, three members of the coalition prEUgovor, the Autonomous Women's Center (AWC), ASTRA – Anti-Trafficking Action and Transparency Serbia (TS), have prepared proposals for amendments – each in their field of work (crimes against sexual freedom, crimes against humanity and crimes with an element of corruption).
The reporting period, which lasted from November 2021 to April 2022, was marked by the referendum on constitutional amendments and the general elections with accompanying campaigns and a series of regulations that once again underwent last minute changes. Due to the lack of real dialogue in institutions and the media, in late 2021 citizens took to the streets in mass protests throughout Serbia. A significant initial step towards strengthening the independence of the judiciary was made by amending the Constitution, although the space for the influence of politics on this branch of government has not been completely eliminated.
The Autonomous Women's Center (AWC), together with partner organizations, announces a call for an external evaluator of the project ''Institutionalizing Quality Rehabilitation and Integration Services for Violence Survivors” funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) with funds of Austrian Development Cooperation.
Education about reproductive and sexual health and rights has not been organized systemically, shows the latest study of the Autonomous Women's Center "Systemic education postponed until further notice", which analyzes how much the Republic of Serbia respects international standards, domestic laws and policies regarding the education of children and young people about sexual and reproductive health within the framework of the formal education system.
As part of the discussion regarding the development of the Policy Action Plan for youth in AP Vojvodina 2022-2025, and at the initiative of the European Youth Center of Vojvodina, the AWC sent its comments in the field of digital violence towards and among young people.
