

Stop killing women!
Announcement on the occasion of the International Day against Femicide
Autonomous Women's Centre and Women in Black from Belgrade with the support of the Women's Association Anima from Đulići (BH), Nena - Group for Peace and Women's Rights from Leskovac, Polimlje Women from Prijepolje, Bona Fide from Pljevlja (Montenegro), SOS hotline for women and children victims violence from Vlasotince, organize a street action, in mourning and silence, on December 6, 2021 from 1 pm to 2 pm, in Republic Square, termed "Stop killing women".
By marking December 6, we symbolically remember the victims of the Montreal Massacre,[1] but also all the women killed by men just because they are women, those whose names are known to the public, but also those whose names we may never get to know. We call on the institutions to take responsibility and demand to investigate why the institutional system does not have the capacity to identify violence that can result in death and prevent the murder of women, as well as to establish whether there were omissions in dealing with reports preceding femicide and sanctioning those responsible.
In 2020, every 11 minutes, one woman was killed by a partner or family member in the world. During the previous decade in Serbia, partners and other male family members killed at least 350, and since the beginning of the year, partners or family members have killed at least 16 women. Another 16 attempts at femicide have been reported. In addition to the fight against the pandemic, this year was marked by reports of sexual violence in which the suspects were celebrities, public officials, professors and others, and in which the victims did not receive sufficient support from institutions or professionals and the general public. Patterns and models promoted by certain media with a national frequency do not contribute to suppressing stereotypes about violence, as they give space to perpetrators to relativize the violence they committed and publicly "slander" the victims, while on the other hand, it creates an image of victims having provoked violence. Impunity, blaming and intimidating victims, undermining their credibility, and promoting perpetrators and violence cannot contribute to reducing violence against women or preventing the murder of women - which are often the ultimate and most brutal outcome. Bearing that in mind, we remind you that the obligation of the state is to protect women from violence, and it must not remain declarative. Only a timely and adequate response, detection, stopping and sanctioning of male violence against women can prevent us from reading reports on new murders of women. React before it's too late!
Organizers
Media contact:
Vedrana Lacmanović, Autonomni ženski centar vedrana@azc.org.rs
[1] On December 6, 1989, an armed assailant killed 14 female students at the Polytechnic College in Montreal, Canada, shouting "You are all a bunch of feminists, and I hate feminists."