The data about 415 women and girls killed since the beginning of 2011 and at least the same number of destroyed families in domestic and partner violence are more than alarming and remind us that we must review and correct all the flaws and omissions in the protection system to save more human lives, said Commissioner for Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, on the occasion of commemorating the Day of Remembrance for Women Victims of Violence.

During the presentation of the report of the Autonomous Women’s Center on femicide, the Commissioner assessed that the presented data indicates that violence against women is a huge social problem that will not disappear by itself. More than 50% of the victims were killed in their own homes by their former or actual partners, and a significant number of them reported the violence to the authorities several times. Every lost life, as well as a potential victim, is an invitation to urgently improve the response, which must be timely, adequate, decisive, but also preventive, Janković stated. She also noted that the establishment of a national control mechanism for monitoring cases of femicide would allow all facts to be systematized in one place, which would help better coordination, faster reaction, and more efficient support of the protection system.

The Commissioner said that the institution of the Commissioner is continuously working to combat violence against women and that she has sent several initiatives to the Ministry of Justice, among other things, to amend the Criminal Code concerning the definition of sexual violence based on the concept of the absence of consent and to amend the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions by prescribing the obligation that the competent authorities always and in all cases inform the victim of gender-based and domestic violence about the release of the convicted person or his escape from prison, while an initiative for better coordination in the work of competent state bodies and institutions has been initiated in order to respond more effectively to gender-based violence.

The Commissioner emphasized that laws alone are not enough because the source is the historically unequal power relations between men and women but also in the widespread tolerance of society to all forms of violence. That is why it is important to reach a social consensus in the fight against and condemn all violence, as well as to constantly work together to create an atmosphere and culture in which any form of violence is not tolerated, Janković said.