Over half of secondary school girls in Serbia have been exposed to online comments of a sexual nature, while almost every tenth of them experienced having their photos or videos published online by someone that they sent these materials to privately. Over half of secondary school boys were, on the other hand, exposed to online threats of physical violence, and 15% of them were faced with pressure to watch pornography or participate in acts inspired by pornography. One third of girls says that almost all forms of cyber violence they were exposed to more than once, was perpetrated by their current or former partner. Girls, more frequently than boys say they felt helpless and scared, while boys more frequently said that being exposed to cyber violence was not a big deal to them.
This is part of the results of the survey conducted on cyber violence and youth at the end of the previous and beginning of this year by the Autonomous Women’s Center (AWC) within the multi-year campaign dedicated to secondary school girls and boys „I can say no – Love is not violence“.
Autonomous Women’s Center presents a study on social policy in Serbia, from the gender perspective and from the perspective of women with experience of gender-based violence. It is a presentation of activities aimed at transposing the acquis communautaire of the European Union into the legislation of the Republic of Serbia, from the recently adopted Action Plan for Chapter 19 - Social Policy and Employment. The analysis focuses on four areas: social inclusion, social protection, prohibition of discrimination and equal opportunities.
Three years into the implementation of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence, we do not have an official, unified report of state bodies on the effectiveness of its implementation, because no sessions of the government Council for the Suppression of Domestic Violence have been held since July 2018. In addition, no central records on cases of domestic violence (in electronic form) have been established, which would unite the data from the competent state bodies.
Not one project intended for support to women victims of violence оr victims of criminal acts in general received the support of the Ministry of Justice at their last open call for granting funds collected on the basis of deferred prosecution in February this year.
The Coalition prEUgovor is presenting its latest Alarm – an independent semi-annual report on Serbia’s progress regarding the political criteria and the implementation of policies in the areas covered by Chapters 23 (Justice and Fundamental Rights) and 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) of the accession negotiations with the European Union.
The Autonomous Women's Center has developed a database of free services for women with experience of violence and other citizens during a state of emergency that includes various forms of support and information.
After the initial drop in calls and messages once the state of emergency was declared, women have started contacting the Autonomous Women’s Center again, primarily because the relevant institutions were not accessible to them or provided them with contradictory or insufficient information. Data shows that in this one month the Autonomous Women’s Centre had been contacted by 3 times more women than usual, even in the situation in which SOS hotline is available only from 10 am to 3 pm due to adjusted organization of work.
Ministry: Information regarding parents who are seeing a child in time specified by a court judgment
The Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans' and Social Affairs has issued a press release regarding the issuance of movement permits during curfews, which include, but is not limited to, seeing a child with a parent with whom they do not live. We are transmitting the announcement in its entirety.
Due to the significant number of calls from mothers who are facing problems with regard to the respect of court decisions that regulate children’s contacts with fathers they do not live with, during proclaimed state of emergency, Autonomous Women's Center addressed the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans' and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Justice with the request to issue clear instructions for parents.
The Autonomous Women's Center knows that government calls for self-isolation and stay-at-home can have consequences for women and children who are experiencing violence. Home is not a safe place for victims of violence. We are concerned that avoiding social contacts and self-isolation will allow abusers to intensify control and abuse of victims and prevent them from contacting support and protection providers/institutions. The rise in violence against women and children during the Coronavirus pandemic has been reported by countries from China to the United States.
