It's World Day Against Femicide. Bojana Pjanić Otović fromMUP- and she declared forRTS that each application is actually saving a life, and that it can be submitted anonymously.

The director of the Judicial Academy, Nenad Vujić, stated that it is the duty of the state to protect the victim, stressing the importance of punishment and prosecution of abusers.

Since the beginning of the year, 17 women have been killed in Serbia in family-partner violence. Bojana Pjanić Otović, guest in the Belgrade Chronicle, said that domestic violence is not a private matter, but a systemic matter, and that as a society we must fight against it.

Black statistics - 17 murdered women in Serbia

• So far, 17 women have been killed in Serbia during 2024. The killers, in half of the cases, were previously reported for violence, eight of them out of 17.
• As in previous years, women over 46 are still at higher risk of being killed (11 were over 46 this year).
• The largest number of women were killed by their current and former partners (in 13 cases), while one each was killed by a son, a grandson, a former son-in-law and a persecutor.
• Six women were killed with a knife, five with a firearm, two were beaten to death, two were drowned, one was killed with a drill, and one with a saw.

"Each report submitted to the MUP in a timely manner actually saves a life. To some extent, we have achieved the goal of women reporting domestic violence, because the largest number of cases with a fatal outcome are events that were not known to the police," Pjanić Otovićeva points out.
According to her, the duty of the police after the report is to protect the identity of that person, stressing that the testimony of a witness can be an important piece of evidence in the criminal proceedings against the abuser.

"One saved life is much more valuable than whether someone will blame you if you report. From the time of filing the report, the police go to the field, collect all the facts and evidence and will start the procedure in cooperation with all competent institutions", explains Pjanić Otovićeva.

Reporting, revenge and zero tolerance

Nenad Vujić tells RTS that the number of neighbors and relatives who report violence that someone suffers in the family is increasing, but that, he believes, is not enough, stressing that prevention is needed, as well as punishment and persecution of abusers.
"We have a problem of reporting victims, because they are not convicted or do not have enough confidence that they will be protected, while neighbors and friends will not interfere in private, family relationships. This is changing, as statistics show - there are more and more reports because now they can be and anonymous if there was no vengeful moment," he points out Vujic.

Vujić says that the law prescribes the obligation to educate everyone - from the police to the court, who work on cases of violence against women and in the family.
"It is very important to profile the phenomenon - to recognize injuries that are not physical, but also psychological, as well as the threat. It is the state's obligation to react and protect the victims, because before it was considered a family-private matter. Institutions are getting stronger, and everyone in Serbia is determined is zero tolerance for violence in family," concludes Nenad Vujović, director of the Judicial Academy.