The private sector and the economy, especially the travel and tourism industry, is a critical point where children are at particular risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. This is also shown by the results of the global assessment on the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse of children, which confirm the previous observations of the Protector of Citizens, said today the Deputy Protector of Citizens for Children's Rights and Gender Equality, Jelena Stojanović, at a meeting with the Assistant Director of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Gordana Tiodorović, and the Director of the Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia, Saša Stefanović.

Speaking about the perspectives and models of future cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Stojanović pointed out that continuous cooperation in the improvement and strengthening of mechanisms for protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse in the private sector is of great importance.

Presenting the work of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Gordana Tiodorović pointed out that this is an extremely important topic both for the chamber and for society as a whole, and that the chamber is particularly interested in cooperation with the Protector of Citizens in the field of protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse.

The meeting was held as part of the dialogue of the Protector of Citizens and the Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia with relevant state bodies and organizations in the area of protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse and the preparations for the National Dialogue dedicated to the legal and institutional improvement of the prevention and protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse, which will be held on 29 November 2022.

The Protector of Citizens asked the competent ministry to provide, with amendments to the Law on Sports, that top athletes with hearing disabilities have the same rights as athletes without disabilities and athletes with other forms of disabilities – national awards, monetary awards for top results in competitions and a national pension.

Top athletes with hearing disabilities bring medals from the biggest sports competitions, such as the Deaf Olympic Games, the World and European Deaf Championships, but according to the current Law on Sports, they are not treated the same as athletes without disabilities and athletes with other forms of disabilities, said the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić.

The Protector of Citizens, acting on the basis of a citizen's appeal, who addressed this institution on behalf of top athletes with hearing disabilities due to discrimination and non-recognition of results at the biggest sports competitions, determined that it is necessary to amend and supplement the Law on Sports so that it also applies to athletes with hearing disabilities, members of the Sports Association of the Deaf of Serbia and the Olympic Committee of the Deaf of Serbia, who are not recognized in the provisions of the current law.

Due to their non-recognition in the Law on Sports, top athletes with hearing disabilities are denied national awards, monetary awards for top results in competitions, as well as a national pension after reaching the age of 40, compared to athletes without disabilities and athletes with other forms of disabilities, the Protector of Citizens points out.

The Protector of Citizens determined that the Memorandum, signed between the International Olympic Committee and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – Deaflympic, recognizes that the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – Deaflympic is equal to the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee.

Therefore, at the national level, athletes with hearing disabilities and their organization, should be recognized by the Ministry of Sports, the Olympic Committee of Serbia and the Sports Federation of Serbia, and accordingly, athletes with hearing disabilities should be equal to Olympians and Paralympians and deservedly gain the right to premiums and national pensions for top sports achievements, according to the Protector of Citizens.

The Protector of Citizens states that the International Olympic Committee recognizes the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf – Deaflympic as the only body that deals with international sports of the deaf and as an independent organization, which is not part of the International Paralympic Committee, but that these two committees of athletes with disabilities are two independent organizations, both recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

Given that the provisions of the Law on Sports that regulate the position, rights and obligations of Paralympians, do not apply to athletes with hearing disabilities, the Protector of Citizens considers that it is necessary to amend the Law on Sports, to regulate their position and protect their rights, in the same way and to the same extent to which the rights of other athletes and Paralympians are protected.

The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, spoke today with the Minister of Family Welfare and Demography, Darija Kisić, about the protection of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the necessity of amending the Family Law, so that it further improves the position and protection of children in the Republic of Serbia, and thus the protection children from this type of exploitation.

Pašalić reminded that the Protector of Citizens was a member of the Working Group of the Ministry for Family Welfare and Demography in the previous convocation, which prepared the draft amendments to the Family Law, and added that these amendments are aimed at improving family legal protection.

Kisić stated that in order to protect children from sexual exploitation, it is important to determine whether young people are able to recognize this type of exploitation and then work on their education.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Protector of Citizens for Children's Rights, Jelena Stojanović, and the Director of the Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia (MODS), Saša Stefanović, who informed the minister about the research on the progress of countries in protecting children against sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the current legislative framework in this area, in order to jointly consider the possibility of its improvement from the aspect of competence of the Protector of Citizens and the Ministry of Family Welfare and Demography.

Stojanović pointed out that the draft amendments to the Family Law, prepared by the Working Group, deleted the provision that allowed marriages between minors over the age of 16, with the permission of the court.

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

"Elderly women in the countryside do not enjoy the full range of rights in the field of social and health care. They are often exposed to discrimination, and they are often abused and suffer violence, most often financial, which they very often do not know how to recognize", said Stojanović at the gathering on realizing the economic and social rights of elderly women in the countryside, in the village of Zlot near Bor.

At the gathering, which was organized by the Protector of Citizens in cooperation with the association "Strength of Friendship – Amity", in addition to the elderly residents of the village of Zlot, representatives of the association "Kokoro" from Bor, the Vlach association "Primavera" from Zlot, as well as the female members of the association of pensioners from Bor and the village of Zlot, actively participated. 

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

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

The gathering in the village of Zlot 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 this project is to protect the rights of this 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 the rights of the elderly.