A Meeting for the Promotion of Systematic Fight Against Domestic Violence
On 21 May 2015 a meeting was held for the promotion of systematic fight against crime committed against gender freedom, marriage and family. The ministers of justice, police and labour Nikola Selaković, Nebojša Stefanović i Aleksandar Vulin, the coordinator of the Safe house and the Domestic Violence Council Vesna Stanojević, the Republic public prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac and the director of police Milorad Veljović attended the meeting. Selaković said that at the meeting they considered the possibility of taking more efficient and better steps in the fight against domestic violence and prevention of these crimes. The agreement was made to form an expert work group, which will come up with concrete suggestions for measures and solutions.
Having in mind that when it comes to domestic violence the biggest problem is exactly the time between reporting the violence and the reaction of the authorities Selaković pointed out that it’s necessary to form an alliance between the authorities and the non-governmental sector. He also added that, suggested by the Ministry of Labour, special attention will be drawn to the committer of the misdeed, by tracking the execution of the imposed measures. The minister of internal affairs Nebojša Stefanović said that that ministry already sent a dispatch and made some structural changes, like forming a special department inside the Criminal police office, which will only deal with sanctioning and prevention of domestic violence. The minister added that the members of the criminal police will address the republic prosecutor and the centres for welfare work, even when there are no signs that domestic violence is in question. ”The health institutions in charge will also be included in the work group and immediately informed”, said Stefanović. The Ministry of internal affairs will immediately check if the abusers or their family members who live in the same household possess firearms. ”The firearms will be taken away immediately. That is also a safety recommendation for all the police stations and offices when issuing any kind of permit to carry weapons or keep firearms”, stated Stefanović. The minister of labour Aleksandar Vulin emphasized that the centres for welfare already report cases of domestic violence, and that after today’s meeting the names of the people in charge in the prosecution and police will be known, so the centres can address them directly in case of that crime. The coordinator of the Safe house and the Domestic Violence Council Vesna Stanojević said that during the past 20 years of her engagement in domestic violence problems she saw how the process go, how much violence exists in the families and she emphasized that there is more violence than we can possibly imagine. ”After the meeting for the first time I believe that something will really change, because the three ministers and other participants gave concrete suggestions which will be considered”, said Stanojević, concluding that Serbia has good laws, but that their implementation is missing.
