A woman from Aleksinac who was killed by her ex-husband and the latest case when man has wounded his partner and her daughter in Požarevac, along with all the victims of the family and partner violence this year, are a warning to everyone that drawing of public attention to this huge social problem cannot and must not be limited in time, warns Commissioner for Protection of Equality Brankica Janković.

Commissioner points out to alarming data about violence which is of particular concern in all times, including times of pandemic, which made the position of women at risk of violence even more difficult, especially data from women’s organizations that at least 30 children were left without a mother this year, and that two thirds femicide was committed mainly in the apartment or house where the victim lived. Beating to death, knife, ax, gun, bomb – there is a terrible arsenal of ways in which women in Serbia were murdered this year only.

Janković once again reminds the media that the way they report has a great influence whether a woman will report violence. Sensational titles and texts are still to be seen, with various explanations to jusify the abuser. It is precisely the way of reporting that directly affects the woman, either as discouragement or as support to report violence, Jankovic points out.

Commissioner emphasizes that, according to UN data, many countries recorded an increase in the number of calls on family violence helplines since the outbreak of the pandemic and reminds that the institution of Commissioner proposed in the previous period special protection measures, recommendations and initiatives to address the issues reported by citizens, among which was the criterion for accommodation of safe houses users from which required a negative test for COVID-19.