On May 28, 2025, the Autonomous Women’s Center held a presentation of the handbook “Improved Model of Coordination in Line with the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence” at the Belgrade Art Hotel. The event brought together around 30 representatives from prosecution offices, social welfare centers, and other relevant institutions.

The handbook is based on the experiences and analysis of the work of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade during 2022 and 2023. Its aim is to clarify the role of higher public prosecutors in multisectoral cooperation in cases of domestic and gender-based violence. It emphasizes the importance of a proactive approach, timely information sharing, and the active involvement in groups for coordination and cooperation.

The handbook’s author, Gorjana Mirčić Čaluković, presented the content and key recommendations. Participants engaged in a discussion, sharing their experiences and challenges from daily practice. Mirčić Čaluković highlighted the importance of documenting the positive experience of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade as a model for other higher prosecution offices across Serbia, noting that the participation of higher prosecutors in the groups for coordination and cooperation has proven to be a valuable and necessary practice that should be re-established.

Psychotherapist Tijana Mitrašević, who was engaged in the Victim and Witness Support Service for gender-based violence established at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2022, stressed the vital role of trained and trauma-informed psychologists and psychiatrists in providing support to survivors of gender-based violence.

The handbook’s editor, Vanja Macanović from the Autonomous Women’s Center, also addressed the audience. Attendees agreed that effective multisectoral cooperation, including the involvement and informed engagement of all relevant actors, is essential for timely and adequate institutional responses in cases of gender-based violence, responses that can ultimately save women’s lives.

The event was organized as part of the project Strong resistance movement of women defenders of human rights for the protection of women victims/survivors of gender-based violence and their children financed by the European Union.

 The online version of the Handbook  (in Serbian) is available HERE.