/ Belgrade, Vranje, May 10, 2017 / – Once again, angry and sad, we turn to the public for a series of murders of women in the context of family and partnership that marked the days in Serbia.
In Doroslovo, F..N. (52 years) killed stepmother E.S. (78) and a half-sister R.S. (43) is seriously wounded.
Near the town of Turija near Bujanovac, G.P. (aged 24) gun killed his wife J.P. (21), her mother D.I. (44) and wounded their one-year daughter, and is still at large.
In Tutin, M.S. (28 years old) tried to kill his unmarried wife N.N .with multiple stab wounds.
All those cases have in common that, on the basis of information from the media, apparently none of the women had not previously addressed the competent institutions for protection and assistance.
Last in a series of murders is the one of M.R .(55 years), stabbed in Apatin by ex-husband Ì.Î. (67).
While the media on one hand quoted the statements of people close to the murdered woman that the case was reported to the police, on the other hand a director of CSR Apatin states that the family was not in their register, „neither the police had such a report and as such, according to the usual practice would be submitted to the Center for social work „.
Our experience tells us that even the formal complaints were not a guarantor that violence will be officially registered, therefore, it becomes clear why the institutions stated that they had no knowledge.
Moreover, bearing in mind that these murders were committed in a small local communities where was mainly known about „family problems“ and that the media could find out that the environment of the victims testified about the prolonged violence that preceded the murder, the question is whether the institutions really had no knowledge of previous violence, or did not want to have it.
Data from the survey carried out by SOS Telephone Vranje for the period 2014-2016. in the municipalities of Pcinja District exposed coverup of violence against women within the „institution“ and lack of coordination in the response to it. Those data show that there is a huge difference between the number of cases reported to the police and those registered at centers for social work.
It remains an open question where reports on violence against women were “lost”, since according to the Protocol for treatment in these cases, the police is obliged to inform the competent CSR and on to provide assistance and record of violence?
As long as the reports on violence against women are „lost“ in the system of institutions responsible for the protection of the same and as long as the answer is „turning a blind eye“ to violence, denial and refusal to what is recorded and processed, a series of murders of women will stay like this for long.
Take action before it’s too late!
SOS Hotline Vranje and the Network of Women Against Violence