The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure and President of the Coordinating Body for Gender Equality, Zorana Mihajlovic, gave her support and signed the petition to proclaim May 18th the Day of Remembrance of Murdered Women Victims of Violence. She signed the petition at the Republic Square, in Belgrade. Upon signing the petition she noted that this proclamation would signal and demand that murdering of women in a partner or family context must stop. While answering questions about the proposed Law on Domestic Violence Prevention, Mihajlovic stated that “if it’s possible and if it’s needed, this Law should be improved”.
Bobana Macanovic, from the Autonomous Women’s Center, noted that the draft law – which is already being analyzed by Parliamentary Members – is deficient, mostly because it doesn’t sanction individual responsibility of institutional employees who fail to react adequately or fail to report the violence as it was reported to them by victims, but also because it establishes one of the most complex systems of emergency measures – the implementation of which will be questionable in practice.
Mihajlovic noted that the Coordinating Body for Gender Equality was not in fact a member of the work group that produced the draft law, but that it gave it’s opinions during a Parliamentary debate. She added that the Women’s Parliamentary Network would certainly make improvements to the Law.
Numerous citizens also signed the petition on this occasion on the Republic Square.
Photo: Marija Janković
