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AN OVERVIEW OF GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SERBIA
of violence against women in much larger number of cases than other women, with
husbands and partners being undoubtedly dominating among them.
§ 50. Until 2002, family violence was not treated as a separate problem, but in police
and court statistics it was “hidden behind general offences such as causing serious
bodily harm, endangering personal security, etc.” 78 Family violence was for the first time
criminalized in 2003 (Article 118 of the Criminal Law of Serbia 79 ). In currently valid Criminal
Code of Serbia 80 , penalty for family violence ranges from three months to 15 years of
imprisonment depending on qualification. The latest amendments and supplements
to the Criminal Code has brought stricter penalties for family violence. However, the
new definition of the “family member” represents a step backwards compared with the
previous legislative solution, since it excludes a great number of persons who used to
enjoy ex officio protection 81 .
§ 51. The position of women should also be improved through the Family Act 82 that came
into force in July 2005. Solutions offered by this Law are aimed at providing better and
more comprehensive legal protection of family, whereby special emphasis is put on the
rights of the child. This Law introduces some new legal institutes that were not known
in former legislation, including the protection from family violence. One of the new
measures is protective measure against family violence, in particular the issuance of a
warrant for eviction from a family apartment/house regardless of the ownership of the
real estate in question (Article 198). Moreover, social workers are given greater powers.
While earlier they could initiate court proceedings only when a child was endangered in
the family, now they can provide protection to an adult who suffers violence, too.
§ 52. In this way, at least in legislative terms, the state has acknowledged that violence
against women as a social problem and not the private problem of a woman suffering it.
On the other hand, the implementation of these laws in practice is “blocked by ignorance,
institutional inertia and patriarchal stereotypes”, while institutional support to the victims
of violence and prevention measures are still far below the needs 83 . Social welfare centers
are still ruled by stereotypes; for this reason, courts impose more severe punishments on
violent mothers than on violent fathers, penal policy is light – the most frequent penalties
are fines and suspended sentences, protection measures are not applied in practice, while
the procedure itself is inefficient, which dramatically diminishes its meaning and increase
its costs 84 .
78
Aleksić I. and Lukić M. (2000). „Serbia – Country Report“ in: Women 2000: An Investigation on the Status of Women’s Rights in Central and South-East
Europe and the Newlz Independent States, New Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.
79
Official Gazette of SRS no. 26/77, 20/79, 24/84, 39/86, 51/87, 6/89, 42/89 and 21/90 and Official Gazette of RS no. 16/90, 9/92, 49/92, 51/92,
23/93, 67/93, 47/94, 17/95, 44/98, 10/2002, 39/2003 and 67/2003
80
Official Gazette of RS, no. 85/05, 88/05, 107/05 i 72/2009.
81
Jovanović N. et al (2009), op.cit.
82
Official Gazette of RS no.18/05.
83
Report on the Implementation of Millennium Development Goals in the Republic of Serbia, Government of Serbia, Belgrade, 2005.
84
Report to the CEDAW Committee, Voice of Difference, Autonomous Women’s Center, ASTRA, Incest Trauma Center, Women in Black, Belgrade,
March 2007.
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