'Stand up against violence'

The director of the Association for Combating Trafficking of Women Atina Marijana Savic believes there is no gender equality without equality on society, and that there will be no progress "unless we stand up against violence".

"Atina", over 15 years of work, has provided support for thousands of women and girls who were human trafficking victims, she noted.

She payed special attention to migrants as the refugee population.

"Out of 162 surveyed women, majority stated that they have suffered from partner violence, but also violence coming from smugglers", noted Savic, emphasazing that these women have high tolerance to pain and violence.  

She also mentioned an example that a migrant said she was married at nine, and gave birth to her first child at eleven.  

Gordana Stefanovic from the Ombudsman Office said that this entity’s goal is to decrease violence to its minimum.  

One of three women in Serbia has been a victim of physical violence

On average, every 10 days in Serbia, one woman is killed and out of the total number of victims, only 10 percent of them have plead for help or reported violence.

One in three women in Serbia has been victim of some kind of physical violence, and one in two has been a victim of mental violence, said Ljiljana Loncar, Senior Adviser for Gender Equality in the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

On average, every 10 days one woman is killed, and among all the victims only 10 percent of them have plead for help or reported violence, said Loncar at “Partnership against human trafficking and all kinds of gender-based violence” Conference that was taking place in the Embassy of France in Belgrade, Tanjug reported.

She added that surveys have shown that 65 percent of women and children migrants, that have been transiting through Serbia, had been exposed to violence before, and only one fifth of them had the information who to report the violence to.

She reminded that the Law on Domestic Violence was passed in 2017, and she also stated that the new Law on Foreigners will come into force from September.

Loncar has also highlighted that the Coordination body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia successfully cooperates with Non-governmental organisations, dealing with domestic violence and combating human trafficking, indicating that multi-diciplinary cooperation is necessary for further progress.

Support of France

Ombudsman of Serbia can recommend to competent institutions such as Government, Parliament what can be altered in the system, in order to improve overall situation, said Stefanovic.

French ambassador to Serbia, Frederic Mondolini highlighted that “France, now and always” has been by Serbia’s side and that shall offer support for fighting violence, as well as all types of organized crime, to include human trafficking.

He believes that Serbia’s modus operandi in combating violence can be enhanced, while praising the work of Atina.

At the conference data were presented that indicated that 35,000 to 40,000 women in France are human trafficking victims subjected to sexual abuse, out of which 90 percent are under control of criminal organizations.

Almost 10,000 victims are under 18, and 92 percent are women.

Source:   http://balkans.aljazeera.net/vijesti/svaka-treca-zena-u-srbiji-zrtva-fiz...