At the sitting held on 18 June, the members of the Gender Equality Committee considered the text of the Declaration Proposal on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and children and the response to the petition by Lada Protic, president of the SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence – Belgrade.

The Committee Chairperson briefed the Committee members on the goal with which the declaration on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and children was proposed, stressing the United Nations’ initiative that member states pass laws on gender equality and on protection of women and children against violence. She added that, according to statistical data, six percent of women victims of violence in Serbia believe that they are responsible for the violence committed against them. Therefore it is necessary to initiate the adoption of a legal framework for the protection of women against violence and work on raising their awareness on violence prevention. She proposed that the Gender Equality Committee and the Committee on Health and the Family together draft a Declaration Proposal on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and children basing it on the existing text drafted by the deputies from the previous National Assembly convocation.

Deputy Paja Momcilov, Chairman of the Committee on Health and the Family, who attended the sitting, briefed the Gender Equality Committee members on the Committee’s activities on drafting the text of the declaration. The Committee on Health and the Family has formed a four-member commission tasked with proposing a text which would then be adjusted in cooperation with the Gender Equality Committee members and forwarded into assembly procedure.

The Gender Equality Committee members agreed to create a commission comprising the Committee Chairperson Gordana Paunovic-Milosavljevic, Deputy Chairperson Bojana Stanojevic and Committee members Zlata Djeric, Jelena Travar-Miljevic and Milan Avramovic, to cooperate with the commission of the Committee on Health and the Family and propose the text of the declaration to the Committees within a month. Also, the Committee members agreed to include the members of the National Assembly’s Children’s Rights Working Group into the commissions’ work.

The Committee members went on to consider the memo sent by Lada Protic, president of the SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence, which is facing imminent termination as it cannot afford workspace due to insufficient funding. The Committee decided to contact the SOS Hotline representatives and learn what specific type of aid the Committee can provide, with the idea that, if needed, the Committee sends a memo to the National Assembly Speaker asking that the organisation be temporarily given offices at the National Assembly building, 14 Kralja Milana Street. Also, the Committee shall contact the Directorate for Gender Equality at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to find a permanent solution for the SOS hotline representatives. The Committee members agreed that this field should be systematically regulated and suggested that the text of the declaration on the elimination of all forms of violence against women and children should include recommendations for the local self-government stating the necessity of establishing SOS hotlines on the local level.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairperson, Gordana Paunovic-Milosavljevic.