The representatives of Incest Trauma Centre – Belgrade said that there are serious flaws in the Criminal Code – it lacks provisions which should best protects the interests of children who had been exposed to sexual abuse, and also, all children, no matter what their age, 0 to 18, should be afforded equal protection under the law.

Incest Trauma Centre’s research shows that 88% of child victims of sexual abuse are interrogated in the courtroom and the accused is allowed to speak to them directly, in 21% of the cases the children are interrogated in offices, and in only 4.7% of cases in rooms specially equipped for the purpose.

Incest Trauma Centre Director Dusica Popadic said that the initiative to have the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia monitor the implementation of the measures set in place to prevent the re-traumatisation of former child victims of sexual abuse urges for the adoption of protective measures such as the removal of the offender from the family home and to reduce the number of court hearings for the child during the trial from the usual five and more. The initiative also calls that the length of the trial, which in Serbia takes three years and three months on average, be limited to 12 months, and to ban the spread of information that could jeopardize the child victim’s identity, especially ban the communication of such information to the media.

Women’s Parliamentary Network coordinator Dubravka Filipovski proposed to convey the initiative to the Ministry of Justice and request to set up a task group for the protection of child victims of sexual abuse. She also suggested that the Incest Trauma Centre, in co-operation with the Ombudsman, present the initiative to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Health and Family Committee and the Committee on the Judiciary, Public Administration and Local Self-Government, in order to expand the support network.