The Victimology Society of Serbia (VDS) awarded Brankica Janković, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, for her contribution to the advancement of victims’ rights, stating that “for many years, the Commissioner has been consistently advocating for the respect of the human rights of all citizens, for recognizing discrimination and timely and effective response in cases when it occurs, thus making a great and lasting contribution to the improvement of victims’ rights and the realization of goals”.

The Commissioner stated that it is a great honor and privilege to receive recognition from the Victimology Society of Serbia, an organization that has been proving its commitment to the fight for victims’ rights and prevention of victimization for 25 years. “I am sincerely grateful, but it is difficult for me to rejoice in the award in a year when 27 women were killed in domestic violence, when in May we experienced two major tragedies in which young lives were lost, when people and children are killed every day on a global level in the cruelest way. Although sometimes it seems like a Sisyphean job, from submitting initiatives, recommendations, warnings, reports, and appeals, one cannot hide the satisfaction and the feeling that everything still makes sense when someone credible recognizes the effort, endeavors, and intentions. In conditions where a lot of things are meaningless, I receive the award as an obligation and incentive to, together with my team, dedicatedly continue the fight to help victims – from ensuring the availability of information about legal protection and assistance and support services that exist in Serbia to encouraging victims to mobilize their personal strength and to turn for help, Janković pointed out.

The award was given as part of the 13th annual conference organized by VDS entitled “Support to victims and prevention of victimization: Challenges and perspectives”, attended by numerous experts from the country and abroad.