BELGRADE: Serbia’s efforts to combat violence against women are faltering due to a conservative backlash and alarming levels of digital abuse according to Europe’s human rights watchdog experts.
The Group of Experts on Action Against Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence found little progress since their 2020 report despite Serbia ratifying the Istanbul Convention in 2013.
Patriarchal attitudes and entrenched gender stereotypes contribute to the normalisation of domestic violence particularly among younger generations according to Thursday’s GREVIO report.
The push for greater gender equality in Serbia has been facing an intensified backlash from groups and organisations that advocate so-called traditional values stated the experts.
This report follows several incidents targeting women participating in anti-government demonstrations across the Balkan country.
Explicit images of a student protester were published online and broadcast by at least one television channel after she accused a police officer of beating and threatening to rape her.
Another woman was hospitalised with a broken jaw after being attacked by government loyalists during the protests.
President Aleksandar Vucic’s right-wing government has conducted a broader clampdown on civil society groups and human rights activists previously highlighted by the Council of Europe’s rights commissioner.
NGOs were under significant strain facing both limited resources and persistent attacks from groups that challenge the need for advocacy on women’s rights noted the report.
Counselling long-term psychological support and trauma care remained largely unavailable across the country owing to a lack of government-funded crisis centres for women.
A UN Human Rights Commission expert stated in 2024 that statistics showed violence against women and girls was endemic in Serbia with action being very slow.
Law enforcement was also found lacking with several reports of officers acting without sensitivity professionalism and effectiveness when victims reported violence. – AFP