The Autonomous Women's Center submitted general comments to the Working Group for the Development of the National Strategy for Realizing the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Crimes in the Republic of Serbia. All comments that were made during the drafting of the expiring Strategy remained the same.

The Autonomous Women's Center pointed out that:

– strategy development cannot be started without statistical data on the total number of victims in criminal proceedings at the beginning of those proceedings, classified by criminal offenses before Basic and Higher Public Prosecutor's Offices, and Basic and Higher Courts

– services for help and support for victims should be established where victims first give their testimony, which is used as evidence in the proceedings (Primary and Higher Public Prosecutor's Offices), and not where they may eventually testify (Primary and Higher Courts)

– services for assistance and support to victims cannot be based on the work of one, changeable, professional associate in the Public Prosecutor's Office or Court

– expanding the name and content of the strategy to misdemeanor offenses should be considered as well.

The expectation was expressed that the Working Group, when developing the strategy, will take into account the data of the Research on respect for the minimum rights of victims of gender-based violence, from the moment of reporting until the end of the criminal proceedings, conducted during 2024 as part of the project "Introducing a justice model focused on citizens by strengthening prevention and protection in cases of gender-based violence", which was implemented by the AWC and the Forum of Judges of Serbia with the support of the "Justice for All" project of the American Agency for International Development (USAID).

You can see the general comments submitted to the Working Group HERE.