Today, on the occasion of the National Day of Remembrance for Women Victims of Violence, the Protector of Citizens, Mr. Zoran Pašalić, urged all women suffering violence to report the perpetrators, whoever they are, to the competent authorities in order to provide the women with adequate protection and prevent a tragic outcome.
"I call on all women who experience domestic violence to report it to the competent authorities. Non-reporting and putting up with violence opens up a vicious circle of violence which in a certain number of cases results in tragic consequences for the victim, but also opens a new circle of violence by making children either future abusers or future victims," said Pašalić.
Mr. Pašalić stated that in crisis situations bearing economic and existential uncertainty, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, the risk of violence against women was increased, and added that women with disabilities, elderly, women in rural areas, as well as Roma women, continued to encounter most challenges.
"For more than a year now, we have been living in hard living conditions when uncertainty increases the risk of intensifying domestic violence. However, we have made a step forward in order to empower women to report the violence they suffer, considering that the applicable regulations have enabled free checkups of victims of violence by forensic doctors“, said Pašalić.
Such examinations by court experts will make securing the evidence for court proceedings possible so that victims do not retract from initiating court proceedings on emotional or existential reasons and so that the perpetrators would be adequately punished, the Protector of Citizens has underscored.
In 2017, the Government of the Republic of Serbia designated 18 May as the Remembrance Day for Women Victims of Violence commemorating 16, 17 and 18 May 2015, when seven women in Serbia were murdered in domestic-partner violence.