Montenegro

Implementation of the Law on Prevention of Violence in Family

Podgorica, 18 October 2010

“Violence in family should be prevented; comprehensive implementation of the existing laws should be guaranteed; a national strategy for fight against violence in family should be adopted” – it was said at the round table organized by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the United Nations System in Montenegro.

Taking into consideration that 2010 was proclaimed by the Montenegrin Government the Year of Fight against Violence in Family, the round table was organized with an aim to discuss the implementation of the Law on Prevention of Violence in Family, which was adopted in July 2010, to exchange experiences gained from its implementation to date, as well as to discuss challenges and ways to promote coordinated cooperation of relevant institutions.

Mr. Ferhat Dinoša, Minister for Human and Minority Rights in the Government of Montenegro said that the majority of victims of family violence in Montenegro were women, and that this problem was a result of traditional roles of men and women that lead to discrimination of women not only in family but in the society as a whole. “The Government of Montenegro has a clear attitude that violence in family and violence against women will not be tolerated. This confirms the dedication of Montenegro to prevent violence in family, and to provide full support and help to the victims,” Minister Dinoša explained.

Mr. Miraš Radović, Minister of Justice in the Government of Montenegro, said that the adoption of this law created a solid base for undertaking efficient social action with an aim to prevent and stamp out violence in family. “It is necessary to react responsibly and comprehensively, with the engagement of a wider circle of institutions, because there is no fast progress without joint and synchronized action,” Minister Radović added.  He further explained that the law defined measures for the protection from violence in family, procedures for establishing protection measures, as well as many other issues of importance to ensure protection from violence.

Mr. Suad Numanović, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in the Government of Montenegro, announced the creation of a national strategy for fight against violence in family that should contribute to further protecting victims in line with international standards and conventions.  “The Strategy will contain goals and measures for the advancement of social welfare and other forms of protection, and especially for raising awareness among citizens,” said Minister Numanović. 

Ms. Elisa Tsakiri, Chair of the UN Gender Working Group and Head of the International Organization for Migration in Montenegro said that for the effective implementation of the Law on Prevention of Violence in Family cooperation among all stakeholders is essential. ”With fair and constructive approach to this complex social phenomenon we believe that working together we can be effective in decreasing the number of cases of violence in family” stressed Ms. Tsakiri.

President of the Basic Court in Podgorica, Mr. Zoran Radović emphasized that the “quality prevention measures are more important than the repressive ones, because they aim at eliminating the causes of violence in family”. 

Ms. Maja Raičević, Programme Coordinator in the Women’s Safe House pointed out to the obstacles in the implementation of the law that arose due to the fact that representatives of the institutions were not familiar with the legal measures and that the experiences of their NGO confirmed this. “For an example, there were cases when policemen were not familiar with the authority that the law provides them with, and there were also cases where it was possible to apply the measure of removing the violent family member from home but the measure was not applied,” said Ms. Raičević. She further explained that the “measure of removing the violent member from home is an innovation indeed, and it represents a challenge to our institutions, but it will still have to be implemented because that is the best way to demonstrate that violence is unacceptable.”  

Representatives of the non-governmental organizations welcomed the adoption of the Law that came into force in August 2010, and emphasized that the deadline for passing by-laws should be set as soon as possible. In reply to their concerns, Minister Radović noted that by-laws will be passed by 14 February 2011.

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Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace. It both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. In all societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture.

The World's Women 2010: Trends and Statistics is the fifth issue of The World’s Women and it shows that progress towards gender equality has been made in some areas, such as school enrolment, health and economic participation. At the same time the report shows that much more needs to be done to close the gender gap in critical areas such as power and decision-making and violence against women.

To download full report please go to: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/Worldswomen/WW2010pub.htm

To download Chapter 6 - Violence against women, please go to: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/Worldswomen/wwVaw2010.htm