On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic stated that improvements were notable after the amendments of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and tightening of the penal policy, but that protection system and prevention of gender based violence have to be continuously improved with a range of available mechanisms.

Commissioner added that the task of relevant bodies, and all citizens as well, is to change patriarchal patterns that put woman in a subordinate position in almost all areas of society which eventually can lead to discrimination, violence, including even the one with a fatal outcome, that we witnessed during the previous years, but also a few days ago when another monstrous crime took place.

Reporting on the domestic and partner violence is still at the low professional level in some of media and it is intolerable to talk about one of the greatest social problem in the sensational manner, without respecting the journalist ethic and by violation of the Journalists Code of Serbia, stated Commissioner.

Additional persecution of victim, disrespect for the protection of law and dignity of children who were victims of crime, sexism in the newspaper content, spreading of gender stereotypes are only some of the consequences of inadequate media reporting, which send dangerous message to the society that relativizes violence, discourage victims to report crime and encourage existing and potential perpetrators of violence, concludes Commissioner.