There have been no improvements in the area of sexual and reproductive health and women's rights, according to the latest study by the Autonomous Women's Center "Three years since the adoption of the Program - without expected results."

The study analyzes the implementation of the National Program for Preservation and Improvement of Sexual and Reproductive Health of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia (2017), which envisages improving the situation in this area through information, education, counseling with greater participation of service users and adjusting the work of health services. All indicators of the situation in the field of sexual and reproductive health and women's rights in Serbia are unfavorable, birth control is predominantly conservative, sexual behavior of young people is risky, contraceptives are not easily available, and abortion for non-medical reasons is not covered by obligatory health insurance. There is no special insurance basis for rape victims other than general insurance rules, and systemic solutions in educating and informing young people are lacking.

Lack of political will, lack of financial resources and human resources are the main obstacles in the implementation of the Program, which in terms of content follows international standards. Although the Program was adopted in 2017, there are no publicly available reports on the implementation of this strategic document, the planned mechanism for collecting data according to defined indicators, as well as their periodic submission, processing and reporting, has not been established.

The analysis of media content shows that women's health is not a priority in Serbia and that basic data are missing when it comes to the right to independence and choice, access to contraception, education, counseling or health services. Policy in this area is unequivocally pro-natal and insensitive to the specific needs and rights of women - especially those women from (multiple) marginalized social groups - but also to the needs and rights of young people.

You can read the whole report HERE.