28/03/2016 – Azerbaijani’s Cultural Centre in Serbia gave humanitarian aid to the protégés of the Safe house in Belgrade, where they are accommodated with their children while on the run from the abusers in their homes.
The help consists of home appliances, bedding, school supplies and toys for the children, and the embassy also announced to help to expand the kindergarten, which is part of the Safe house.
The representative of the Azerbaijani’s Cultural Centre Lala Medžideva said

that they will continue helping all the children who need help, because “the children are our future and all the people should take care of them”, so she pointed out.
The coordinator of the Safe house thanked the Azerbaijani’s Cultural Centre for help and she also thanked the Deputy Group of SNS, who took the initiative to realize this action.
Mrs Stanojević pointed out that the donation will make sure that the children of the Safe house feel nicer and better because they have been, as she stated, sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
The MPs of SNS, Katarina Rakić, Dušica Stojković i Nadica Nikolić Tanasijević, attended the delivery of the humanitarian aid.
Source Tanjug

5 January 2016 – the Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić pointed out today that he feels contempt for the people who commit domestic violence, and that he can only refer to them as “rascals and bullies” and he stated that nobody is stronger than the state, which applies to bullies, too.  
”The state will know how to teach the bullies a lesson. We will show the ones, who think that they are strong and that they can beat women and children, that they are very weak compared to the state and the law”, said Vučić in a conversation with the protégés of the Safe house in Belgrade. 
He announced that he will send a team of lawyers to the Safe house in order for them to see how they can help each and every woman.
During his visit to the Safe house the prime minister stated that he can’t look at the consequences of domestic violence, because he feels ashamed and he doesn’t know what to do, because he feels defeated and miserable. 
”You can never express your contempt for these people with good words”, said the prime minister.
In a conversation with a protégé from Novi Pazar he stated that in Serbia everybody can choose their name or surname, but the ones who have a problem with it – they will have to deal with the state.
”No one is stronger than the state and that also applies to every bully and rascal, Vučić pointed out.
The prime minister admitted that the authorities can somethimes be slow, inefficient, but that things always come into their rightful place.
He also said that no normal man would beat up a woman.

In the conversation with the protégés of the Safe house the prime minister explained that it would be better if the police stayed in the vicinity of this institution, so the tenants would be protected in every moment, and that the members of the police should be rare guests in this institution.
During a conversation with the protégés of the Safe house the prime minister held a little boy named Senad on his lap, the son of one of the proégés. He told his mother, the boy has some really fast legs and she should enroll him into some sports club.
The most important thing is that the children are alive and healthy, because they are the most important ones, he said.
Vučić wanted to hear from the protégés what the government and him as the prime minister could undertake to make their situation easier. They told him that it would be important to have some kind of an income, or – a job.
The coordinator of the Domestic Violence Clinic Vesna Stanojević confirmed that the employment of the protégés is crucial. She also indicated that the prime minister’s visit to this institution, which takes care for 47 people, is a great honour.
She also said that the most common question of the protégés concerns the stay of the bully in the house or apartment, on the loose, while they, the victims of the violence, have to stay in a collective accommodation.
According to her, the courts often work too slow and the process lasts for a couple of months.
In a conversation with the protégés and the management of the Safe house the minister of justice Nikola Selaković announced the change of the Criminal law, which would mean that the person who abuses the others must move away from the house withing 24h, no matter if the abuser is the owner of the home or not.
He also announced the introduction of a new criminal act, which refers to mental or verbal abuse.
”That kind of a criminal act is hard to prove, but we’ve never had something like that before”, said Selaković.
He also mentioned that a separate law will regulate the duty of the police to inform the prosecutor and the Center for Social Work after receiving the information about a criminal act.

“Following the model the prosecutor will be obliged to start the criminal prosecution right away”, said Selaković. He also added that this kind of a system already exists in Zrenjanin, the “so-called Zrenjanin model”. 
He also mentioned that these changes could be adopted in March, what was confirmed by the prime minister.
Selaković also said that they are considering switching the lesser included offences to delicts in order to end the process more efficient.
According to his words a good solution would include the improvement of the offence proceedings and the increase of the maximal punishment for the criminal act of domestic violence.

The prime minister Vučić supported the idea of switching some criminal acts to lesser included offence proceedings, because he considers them more efficient and better than the criminal ones.
He said the the judge would hardly sentence the violator if he didn’t commit any crime before, but he also indicated that “a suspended sentence is still a sentence and that every physical injury goes into the criminal records.”
The prime minister also announced that the Government of Republic of Serbia will help build new 40 square meters in the Safe house in Belgrade.
Vučić said that it is expected much from the change of the law, because this way it will be easier to prove the guilt of the violator .
The prime minister reminded that earlier today he also spoke with the minister of police Nebojša Stefanović, who also visited the Safe house and that it was agreed that they guarantee full security to the users and the staff of the house.
According to him it is very important that the women who have a problem of that sort get a job, adding that some women who had no employment earlier now have one.
The deputy prime minister Zorana Mihajlović, the minister of justice Nikola Selaković and the minister of internal affairs Nebojša Stefanović were accompanying the prime minister in his visit to the Safe house. 
Vučić and the ministers were welcomed with bread and salt, and they also responded with gifts for the childen.

(Source: TANJUG)

8. December 2015 – It’s important that the women build a network and that they know they have support everywhere, not only from individuals but also from institutions which are in charge for these matters, said the deputy president of the city assembly Andrea Radulović during her visit to the Safe house. She emphasized the fact that today’s visit is one of the indicators and reasons for forming a Council for Gender Equality and Women Council Network, and that the priority of the city of Belgrade is to be helpful to women who are victims of domestic violence.  – I think that today’s meeting and discussion with the women in the Safe house went great. We found out the real situation and what all these women have to deal with and how we can help them solve these problems. We will continue talking to the women and working on solving these problems, we will try to always have the right information, but above all we will try to show humanity – said Radulović for Beoinfo and thanked the participants of today’s meeting for solidarity in solving these problems. She also added that the city of Belgrade will help women from Safe houses and direct them to the right place, in order for their problem to be solved completely. The member of the City council Dragomir Petronijević said that during the meeting he talked to the women victims of violence, who adduced the gravity of the problems they’re dealing with. – It’s important

that this matter appears in the Local action plan of the city of Belgrade for the year 2016, and I will, as a member of the city council in charge of agriculture and employment in the private sector, try to make a system which will employ as many people as possible. I will recommend these women to the employers, and we will also determine special subventions with the National Employment Service. Also the Department of Economic Affairs was included in this action, in order to help these women become financially independent. It’s important to create such conditions, where they could support their children from their own work and try to go back to their normal lives – said Petronijević and indicated that the city of Belgrade will do everything possible to help the women victims of violence. The city Inspection secretary Zagorka Panić added that the solution of problems related to violence against women is of great importance to the city and said that the city authorities will do everything in their power to protect and help women and children who have suffered from violence. The director of City Center for Social Work Vladimir Ilić, ombudsman of Belgrade Katarina Žeželj and the representative of Serbia’s Chamber of Commerce Branislava Simanić attended the meeting, and the host of the meeting was the coordinator of the Domestic Violence Clinic Vesna Stanojević. Vesna Stanojević used this opportunity to express deep gratitude for the visit of responsible and competent people from city institutions, considering their visit and discussion with the users of the Safe house as a way to a faster solution of problems of many.

(Source: City of Belgrade www.beograd.rs)

25/11/2015 – On the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – 25. November, the Domestic Violence Clinic organized with support of USAID Project for the reform of judiciary and responsible authorities an exhibition of handicraft made by women who are victims of domestic violence during their stay in Safe houses in Belgrade.

The aim of this exhibition, which was organized in the Đura Jakšić House, was to point to a problem of violence against women in Serbia, to support these women and to influence creating an environment that doesn’t tolerate domestic abuse.
The exhibition consisted of different manual work of women, who were or are accommodated in Safe houses in Belgrade. These works involve a variety of handicraft, including: knitted items, painted

items, items made in decoupage technique, glass work, hand-made jewellery, utensils made out of paper, paintings and other items. These items were made under a volunteer program, which was carried out by the company Direct Media. The women employed in this company came to the Safe house every Saturday for four months, and they worked on socialization, raising personal value and enforcement of women and children through creative workshops.
The aim of this event was to support women who are victims of violence, to show their strength, so as to see them from a different perspective, where their qualities, capabilities, possibilities and value, which often even they aren’t aware of, are shown.

21 October 2015 – four female MPs visited the Safehouse in Belgrade today, where they donated humanitarian aid for women and children victims of domestic violence. She told them “not to keep quiet, but to report the abuser”.
The help consists of basic groceries like flour, sugar, oil and fruit, which Sanja Nikolić, Katarina Rakić, Vesna Marković and Mirjana Andrić donated to the protégés.
“The donation we brought today is symbolic and has no big material value, but I think it will help these women in the house a lot”, said Nikolić.
She added that there is information that proves how more and more women got encouraged to report the violence and called on all of them “not to be silent, but to report the abuser because the main part of the fight against violence is the inclusion of the whole society.”
She also said that the state, the government institutions, the non-governmental organizations and the media have to work together on this.
In order to have some results, she said, we have to think more not only of the women but also of the children who are also victims of domestic violence.
Nikolić reminded that the minister of internal affairs Nebojša Stefanović addressed an amendment for the change of the Criminal law which will, as she explained, enable the judge to move the abuser away from the house, that very moment the woman reports him.
“I sincerely hope that we will have that change and amendment of the law in the parliament soon and that it will obtain the support of the MPs”, Nikolić added.
The coordinator of the Safehouse Vesna Stanojević expressed her gratitude for the donated help because it is, as she said, necessary for the protégés of the Safehouse.
“We can all do a lot together, and this is the right example”, she said and also added that it is not important whether the help has big or small material value, but that the thing which is more important is that the victims of violence have the feeling someone looks after them.
“This is a proof of how little they all need, including the children, to be more satisfied and happier and have the feeling someone thinks about them”, Stanojević concluded.

Source: Tanjug

The minister of inner affairs of the Republic of Serbia Dr. Nebojša Stefanović met the coordinator of the Safe house and the Domestic Violence Council Vesna Stanojević, and they both agreed that the women gathered more courage to report domestic violence in the last couple of months, and that is the most important precondition for adequate reaction of the police and for solving this social problem.
During the meeting minister Stefanović informed the guest about the initiative of the Ministry of internal affairs for an amendment of the Criminal law, which will be directed to the responsible Ministry, in order to enable a more efficient reaction of the police in cases of domestic violence.
“We will suggest that under the measures for an undisturbed leading of criminal proceedings the judges are enabled to report the violence right away for the previous process and to determine the measures for moving the violent family member out of the house or apartment. We believe that many victims don’t trust themselves to report the violence out of fear of being possibly left stranded, so therefore we believe that this so-called “Austrian model” contributed to higher rates of violence reporting”, said the minister.
The minister also informed the coordinator of Domestic Violence Council about the dispatch he sent to the representatives of the police in May, after the sixfold murder in the vicinity of Kanjiža, when he demanded maximum attention when reporting domestic violence and an obligatory introduction of the authorities, as well as other institutions to these reports.
He also reminded that the police take the firearms away from the abuser, if he keeps any.
Vesna Stanojević approved the initiative for using the “Austrian model” and emphasized that the Council and the police have good cooperation.
“The police reacts a lot better now in cases of domestic violence and we give advice to every woman that turns to us to inform the police right away. Unfortunately, the family members often hide problems they deal with”, said Vesna Stanojević.

(Source Kurir)

The deputy prime minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the president of the Coordination body for gender equality, Prof. Dr. Zorana Mihajlović paid a visit to the women and children migrants on the incoming platform of the Belgrade bus station and to the protégés, mothers and children who are accommodated in safe houses in Belgrade and gave them donations gathered in the humanitarian action of the deputy prime minister’s Cabinet.

Mihajlović told the migrants that she sympathizes with the mothers with small children who travel on foot for longer than one month and that she hopes that the donations of the companies who answered to the action will make their unenviable position a little easier.

“I want to tell you that you’re not alone and I want you to find your new home as soon as possible wherever you decide”, said Mihajlović.

Mihajlović paid a visit and delivered donations to the women and children accommodated in three safe houses in Belgrade, where there are 24 women and 26 children at the moment.

She told them that the difference between them and the women and children migrants lies in the fact that they don’t live in a war-torn country, but despite that they had to search for salvation for themselves and their children.

“Domestic violence is a problem of the whole society, as well as a real war.” Enough with violence. We can’t allow that any woman in Serbia has to escape from her home in order to save her life and the life of her children”, said Mihajlović.

She gave her special thanks to the companies which donated food, personal hygiene items, baby clothes, strollers, baby equipment, toys and various baby articles in the amount of 1.4 millions of dinars to the vulnerable women and children.

“I owe my special thanks to the companies that showed high social responsibility by helping those who went through hard times”, said Mihajlović. She thanked the companies Jaffa, MCG Group, Dexy Co, Beba Brestill, Podravka, Lomax Company and Color Press Group, as well as the Red Cross of Serbia for offering logistic assistance in distributing donations.

Vesna Stanojević thanked the professor Mihajlović for coming and for the attention she gave the women and children victims of violence and for the donation that came to the protégés of safe houses in Belgrade on her initiative.

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.

Zbog nemilih događaja koji su se desili u Sigurnoj kući, 13. juna, 2013. godine, odlukom gradskih vlasti, odobreno je obezbeđenje Sigurnih kuća 24 sata, tako da su naše Kuće sada još sigurnije. Obezbeđenje omogućava miran, udoban i bezbrižan san za preko 50 korisnika Sigurnih kuća (prosečno), žena i njihova dece.