Upon learning from the media that in an Elementary School near Jagodina, according to parent’s allegations, a teacher has physically harmed a pupil, the Protector of Citizens issued an own-initiative investigation to control work legality and regularity of “Joca Milosavljević” Elementary School, Jagodina Social Welfare Center, as well as the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

Due to the possibility of child’s rights and best interests being endangered, the Protector of Citizens has requested “Joca Milosavljević” Elementary School in Miloševo near Jagodina, to submit, within 15 days, a detailed report on actions, measures and activities undertaken in this case by the school.

The Protector of Citizens requests Jagodina Social Welfare Center to submit within 15 days the report on whether the boy’s family has been on the Center’s records, and whether there have been any reports, knowledge or suspicions of possible violence against the boy before.

The Protector of Citizens has requested the line ministry to monitor the work of the said school and to submit within the same deadline the report on actions, measures and activities undertaken in this case.

With the aim of improving the position of LGBTI people in the Republic of Serbia, this year, the Protector of Citizens will conduct 15 trainings for local self-government units’ staff in order to facilitate the inclusion of this community into the activities of the environment they live in, said Ms. Jelena Stojanović, the Deputy Protector of Citizens for Gender Equality.

The Protector of Citizens, in cooperation with “Duga” Association, organizes the project of trainings in local self-government units, which envisages that local self-government units explicitly include LGBTI people in their local action plans, proscribe measures and activities for improving their position and allocate adequate budgetary funds for those activities, Stojanović has underlined at the Second Meeting of the Beneficiary Steering Committee of Horizontal Facility II for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022.

Within the online session “Promotion of diversity and equality in Serbia”, Stojanović has said that LGBTI people have been facing hate speech, threats and violence and that the Protector of Citizens has been advocating for a long time for systemic solution to the problems faced by LGBTI population.

Stojanović recalled that the Protector of Citizens had issued to all local self-government units the Recommendation to include LGBTI community members into their local action plans three years before and had repeated the Recommendation every year. She added that, due to the conditions imposed by Covid-19 virus pandemic, 7 trainings were held, attended by 47 representatives from 16 local self-government units.

Ms. Stojanović said that the Protector of Citizens, within the project activities in 2021, expected support for drafting and presenting a publication for children and youth on the rights of LGBTI people, in order to point out their rights and to acquaint children and youth with competencies of the Protector of Citizens and the way how to address the Institution.

All activities are held within the Council of Europe project "Promoting Diversity and Equality", financially supported by the European Union.

The trainings on raising awareness of LGBTI people’s rights in their local communities will not be a final engagement of the Protector of Citizens on the protection of the rights of minorities and particularly vulnerable groups, said Stojanović adding that within the same project the Protector of Citizens should conduct trainings for the Councils for Interethnic Relations in cooperation with the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government.

Mr. Zoran Pašalić, the Protector of Citizens, extends best wishes to all women on 8th March, International Women’s Day, underlining that despite the state's efforts to improve their rights in all segments of life, women and girls in Serbia are still not fully equal in our society. They are frequently faced with violence and insults in the family, in intimate partner relations, in the work place, in the public space. Unfortunately, the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic mostly affect women, who face an increased volume of unpaid housework, but also economic insecurity and exploitation in the workplace.

Due to frequent violations of women’s rights and dignity over the last year, the Protector of Citizens emphasizes that strengthening economic and social position of women must be included into states’ priorities, whereas the state and society need to provide particular support to women from intersectionally marginalized social groups - women victims of violence, elderly women, women with disabilities, single mothers, migrant women, refugees, as well as internally displaced women, women of different sexual orientation and gender identity, Roma women, and women in rural areas who face violations of their rights on a daily basis.

In October last year, the Protector of Citizens presented the Report on the work of groups for coordination and cooperation the City of Belgrade, whose data suggest that since the beginning of its implementation, the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence has brought improvements in the system of protection against domestic and intimate partner violence, primarily in terms of communication between bodies competent for recording, preventing and sanctioning domestic violence. However, there are still shortcomings in the Law implementation and the work of coordination and cooperation groups, the elimination of which is necessary in order to establish more efficient and effective systemic protection of victims of violence, and a serious problem remains the lack of professional staff in social welfare centers, so the Protector of Citizens initiated activities within his competence to address the identified problems, some of which have already been rectified, Zoran Pašalić has underlined.

Following press reports about the attempt to remove two children from Suvi Do village in the vicinity of Blace who live with their grandmother, the Protector of Citizens launched own-initiative investigation to control work legality and regularity of Blace Social Welfare Center.

The Protector of Citizens learned from the media that children’s mother had passed away, the father had abandoned them, that the grandmother had reported the father for violence against children on multiple occasions, and as she alleged the police reacted only at that moment and imposed urgent measure, and that the grandmother had applied for custody of the children.

Due to all the above, the Protector of Citizens has asked SWC Blace to submit a report within 15 days on whether the family, in which the children have been living, has been on the Center’s records, whether there have been reports of domestic violence and what activities the Center undertook to provide protection and support to family members.

The Protector of Citizens has also asked SWC Blace to provide him with data on the activities it undertook in the process of removing children, as well as data on cooperation with the police in this case.
Simultaneously with this procedure, the Protector of Citizens requested the Ministry of Family Care and Demography to control the work of SWC Blace and to submit a report on monitoring and activities undertaken within 15 days.

Considering the announcement of the Minister of Police covered by the media that the police activities on all reports of violence in this family will be investigated, the Protector of Citizens requested the Ministry of the Interior to submit data on police activities regarding the current report of violence against children, as well as on the activities undertaken regarding the previous reports of violence.