Serbian women face a range of issues, including the narrative of an abortion ban which is gaining momentum and 18 femicides so far in 2023, the latest occurring after the victim acquired a restraining order against the perpetrator.
During 2022, the number of femicides (26) increased compared to 2021 (21) and the latest incident in Novi Sad shows that measures designed to protect women, such as protection orders, are not effective.
“It is hard to believe that if the prosecution had information that the perpetrator threatened to kill, had a weapon, worked in a gun shop – that it was not assessed that there was a high risk of serious bodily injury or murder and that the prosecution did not order this perpetrator to be detained for up to 48 hours, and then suggested that the court order a detention measure of up to 30 days,” Autonomous Women’s Centre’s lawyer, Vanja Macanović, told EURACTIV.rs.
At least 106 women were killed in the Western Balkans during 2020 and 2021. Almost half of them were killed in Serbia (46), followed by Albania (21), Bosnia and Herzegovina (16), North Macedonia (ten), Kosovo (nine) and Montenegro (four).
On Friday, a “Pro-life” conference calling for an abortion ban was held in the capital. A feminist organisation BeFem organised a press conference to draw attention to the importance of available abortion.
“In the Serbian family law, abortion is regulated so that the mother decides freely about giving birth to a child”, Milena Vasić, a YUCOM lawyer, told EURACTIV.rs.
“Also, The European Court of Human Rights declares that abortion is not a right under the European Convention on Human Rights because a woman must have at least some minimum choice”, said Vasić.
More than 60% of women who have had an abortion in Serbia have already become mothers. Therefore, before the abortion ban, numerous things should be changed, said Jovana Ružičić, director of the “Center for Moms”, to EURACTIV.rs.
“Women are discriminated against at work; they often lose their jobs while pregnant and leave the maternity ward with trauma because of the treatment they receive. As a result, they return to a worse position. Also, they are often financially dependent on their partners, etc.” explained Ružičić.
(Aleksandra Vrbica | EURACTIV.rs)
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