The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Janković, with a delegation from the Commissioner, paid a study visit to Portugal as part of the project “Improving the Safety of Women in Serbia”, which is being implemented by the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN WOMEN), with the support of the Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade.
Commissioner Janković pointed out that the goal of the project is to strengthen the individual capacities of women and girls in rural areas and improve access to justice and capacities for protection against gender-based violence and discrimination. Bearing in mind the multidimensionality of the problem of violence against women, especially women living in rural areas, one of the key aspects is the improvement of cooperation between all relevant actors who can contribute to the improvement of the position of women in rural areas, but also the exchange of experiences with other institutions and organizations with the aim of strengthen the institution and capacity of the Commissioner.
During the visit, experiences were exchanged in functioning and solving problems when it comes to the way of working to improve the economic position and safety of rural women. Meetings were held with the Secretary of State for Equality and Migration Isabel Rodríguez, the President of the Executive Secretariat of the National Commission for Human Rights Sandra Ribeiro, representatives of the Commission for Equality in Work and Employment, the Cabinet for Planning, Policy and Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Commission for Citizenship and Gender equality. How some solutions work in practice was demonstrated in a meeting with a captain in the National Guard, which has special programs for rural areas, as well as during visits to the “Lisbon + Equality” space dedicated to victims of domestic and gender violence in the Lisbon municipality, the Portuguese Association for the Support of APAV Victims and the Center to support victims of domestic violence in the Evora district.
