On May 18th, the National Remembrance Day of Women Victims of Violence we look back on the fact that in 2023 15 women and two girls have been murdered in Serbia in a family-partner context. On this occasion the Autonomous Women’s Center recommends that the National Parliament hold a public hearing in the coming months, before the Board for Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, where they will discuss the conduct, that is, the wrongful courses of action taken by institutions which lead to the murder of a woman in Pirot.
The goal of this public hearing would be to determine what omissions were made by all institutions in the chain of those tasked with providing protection from domestic and partner violence. Such omissions were evidently made in the case of S.M. from Pirot – some because existing laws do not adequately regulate the conduct of certain institutions, and others due to lack of personal responsibility of everyone who worked on her case, who either didn’t act or took the wrong course of action in relation to reports of abuse by the now deceased S.M., and who must face disciplinary consequences.
The text that we sent to the National Parliament, the Board for Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, is available on this link. (in Serbian)
The recommended list of questions MP should pose to institutions is available on this link (in Serbian).