Today, the Deputy Protector of Citizens for Gender Equality, Jelena Stojanović, once again pointed out the necessity of raising awareness about the rights of the elderly, especially elderly women in the countryside, who are in a disadvantageous position primarily due to insufficiently developed special services and support services at the local level.

Elderly women in the countryside do not enjoy rights in the field of social and health care to the full extent. They are often exposed to discrimination, as well as abuse and violence, usually financial that they don't know how to recognize, said Stojanović at a meeting on the realization of economic and social rights of elderly women in the countryside in the village of Laćarak near Sremska Mitrovica.

Stojanović presented the economic and social rights that are guaranteed in the context of the Revised European Social Charter and regulations of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the mechanisms for the protection of those rights, and invited those present to contact the Protector of Citizens if they believe that their rights have been violated by the actions or failre to act of administrative authorities.

The president of the "Strength of Friendship – Amity" association, Nadežda Satarić, discussed with the participants of the meeting the problems they face in exercising their economic and social rights, as well as what social and health care services are available to them.

At the meeting organized by the Protector of Citizens in cooperation with the "Strength of Friendship – Amity" association, in addition to Slađana Marčeta, deputy head in charge of social protection of the city administration of the city of Sremska Mitrovica and the elderly residents of the village of Laćarak, the representatives of the Caritas association from Sremska Mitrovica also actively participated, as well as representatives of the women's association of the local community of Laćarak, women's association "Laćarkuše", and the Laćarak Roma association.

The meeting in the village of Laćarak was held as part of the project Strengthening the capacity of the Protector of Citizens in the protection and promotion of economic and social rights, in accordance with the ratified provisions of the Revised European Social Charter, with a special focus on improving the exercise of rights of elderly women in the countryside, which the Protector of Citizens is implementing in cooperation with the organization "Strength of Friendship – Amity", with the support of the Council of Europe. The goal of the project is to protect the rights of that particularly sensitive social group through reporting on the implementation of the Revised European Social Charter as an instrument that proclaims and encourages the full protection and enjoyment of rights of the elderly.

The Protector of Citizens, in an own-initiative investigation, launched based on information from the media that at the beginning of June this year, a father, a foreign citizen, forcibly took his children and took them to a neighboring country, identified shortcomings in the work of the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade, as it did not act according to the international convention.

On the occasion of allegations in the media that with the first-instance decision of our court the children were entrusted to the mother, but also that the mother violated the previous decision of the court in Switzerland because she brought the children to Serbia, the Protector of Citizens launched an investigation into the regularity and legality of work of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade.

During the control investigation, the Protector of Citizens determined, among other things, that the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade made an omission in its work because it did not apply the appropriate regulation in the specific case – the Hague Convention on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions and cooperation in respect of parental responsibility and measures for the protection of children.

Namely, in the investigation, it was determined that the family lived in Switzerland, that the Swiss court decided during the divorce to place the children under the sole custody of the father, with the place of residence at his address, but also that the mother, in April 2021, without his knowledge, brought the children to Serbia and that in the same month, she filed a lawsuit for divorce in our court.

The Protector of Citizens also established in the investigation that the father of the children, who is a Croatian citizen, informed the competent court in Belgrade in January 2022 that the divorce was decided by a court in Switzerland, that he filed a criminal complaint against the mother of the children for taking away the children, and that he had previously reported the mother for violence, which is why he stayed with the children in a safe house for men  in Switzerland – from July to December 2020.

In this case, the Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography performed supervision of the professional work of this Belgrade Centre, during which it was determined that the Centre did not act in accordance with the standards of professional work, because it did not timely and comprehensively assess the condition, needs and risks for all family members, the Protector of Citizens states.

The relevant ministry stated in the supervision report that the mother illegally kept the children in Serbia in April 2021, that in this particular case, the authority to decide on parental responsibility, even after the illegal removal of children, should have been retained by the authority in Switzerland and that there were no grounds for the guardianship authority to act and provide findings and an expert opinion.

The Protector of Citizens was informed that, according to the opinion of the competent ministry, the said omission resulted in an unjustified prolonged stay of children in the safe house with a parent to whom children were not entrusted as part of independent exercise of parental rights.

The Ministry ordered the City Centre for Social Work in Belgrade to initiate procedures for determining the disciplinary responsibility of employees who were involved in work on this case, but also to inform all employees of the Centre about the report of the competent ministry, in order to prevent the repetition of similar omissions in the future, the Protector of Citizens determined.

The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, emphasized today, on the occasion of 20 November – International Children's Day, that the rights of every child must be protected at every opportunity without exception, but that the rights of children also have their limitations, and these are the rights of others – the rights of teachers, parents and peers.

"Every child has, among other things, the right to education, socialization, healthy psycho-social development and a carefree childhood. However, children's rights also have their limitations when they begin to limit the rights of others, more precisely the rights of peers, parents and teachers", Pašalić said.

In anticipation of the celebration of the International Children's Day, on Friday, 18 November 2022, the Protector of Citizens held an educational workshop on children's rights and their protection with sixth-grade students of the "Ratko Mitrović" Elementary School from Belgrade, who, among other things, criticized the violent behavior of students of the technical school from Trstenik towards their teacher, who filmed it all and put it on social networks.

Students of the "Ratko Mitrović" Elementary School from Belgrade jointly concluded that in such situations, it is necessary to work with both children and teachers, with the involvement of parents and the wider community, in order to pay more attention to the prevention of violence and not only to the reaction to violence when it already occurs.

The workshop, with the aim of improving the knowledge and understanding of children and young people about their rights and available protection mechanisms, was led by students who attended the Summer School of the Protector of Citizens, which was held in Novi Sad in September this year, together with employees from the Secretariat of the Protector of Citizens and a member of the Youth Advisory Panel of the Protector of Citizens.

The European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, which we are celebrating today, is an opportunity to further raise awareness of the importance of preventing any type of violence against children, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, pointed out.

It is also an opportunity to look at the problems and challenges that lie ahead. Sexual exploitation of children on social networks is on the rise, which is favoured by the low risk of detection of the perpetrators. Also, digital ignorance of adults of children's activities on the Internet contributes to greater availability and exposure of children, Pašalić said.

The Protector of Citizens emphasized that it is very important to raise awareness of the fact that this serious form of crime is taking place in our immediate environment, but also to influence the relevant institutions to increase their efforts in suppressing it, as well as to improve the comprehensive protection of children.

Yesterday, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, met with the Minister of Family Welfare and Demography, Darija Kisić, in order to discuss the need for amendments to the Family Law, which would further improve the position and protection of children in the Republic of Serbia, and thus the protection of children from all kinds of exploitation.