The Human Rights Committee Vranje – SOS phone Vranje calls citizens of Vranje to join onThursday (May 21 th) at 5 minutes to noon in the center of Vranje on the boardwalk near OTP Bank. It is the memory of the women who were killed by male partners and family members. We are looking for faster and more efficient reaction of responsible institutions that are not doing enough to stop murders of women.
With this action we support rally in Belgrade organized by Network of Women Against Violence, Autonomous Women’s Center and Women in Black.
We invite citizens to take part in the action of collecting signatures („Contest where everybody wins“) and to send as many signatures for the proposal to the Ministry of Interior to follow the example of many European countries – to amend the Police Act with measures of removal of perpetrator from family home and ban on contacting the victim in 14 days.
The proposal relies on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Article 52 – Emergency measures for protection. Amending the Law on Police has launched by 30 members of the Network of Women Against Violence and the Autonomous Woman’s Center.
Since the beginning of the year 21 women murdered in Serbia, by a partner or male family members! Only in the past three days, 7 women killed. Near Kaniza 4 women killed on the same day, near Velika Plana abuser killed his ex-wife, on Monday in Cacak husband killed his wife, and the last murder took place in Belgrade, where another woman was killed by her husband.
Each murder preceded continuous male violence. According to media reports, more than half of the murdered women reported violence to the police and centers for social work.
Eleven of the 21 women were killed by firearms.
If reported violence was taken seriously and perpetrators adequately and timely punished after seized their weapons, the murders would be prevented!
If the prosecution and judicial system worked more effective, performed risk assessment on the lives of women and the perpetrators removed from home after the first incident and held in detention, the murders would be prevented !!!