Although many in Montenegro like to appeal to humanity and respect for women, misogynistic attacks on women who publicly express their views are becoming more frequent, and the lack of reaction from institutions and authorities further reinforces the atmosphere of social indifference.
This was assessed by the interviewees of "Vijesti" when answering questions about why women in politics are often the target of more intense attacks when they participate more actively in the debate and whether the public and voters recognize this as a problem.
Program assistant at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Maja Marinović points out that such a narrative does not exist when it comes to men, "which clearly shows that women are perceived as undesirable in the public sphere, and this is also an indicator of democratic regression, and not just some inherited patriarchal matrix."
"Party bots play a significant role in this, as do those sympathizers of different parties who quickly react on social networks to the 'wink' of party officials," said Marinović.
She said that CCE was also involved in processing some of those cases, which related to their colleagues.
Former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and long-time MP Branka Bosniak said that traditional environments still perceive politics as a male domain, where women have nothing to ask for, because that is where the decision-making power lies.
"And if they are already there, so that they don't 'make waves' too much, it is desirable that they are completely loyal to the party leaders and listen...", said Bošnjak.
The latest case of misogynistic attack occurred a few days ago, when an independent MP Jevrosima Pejović announced on Facebook that she had received a message in which she was sent the most mundane insults via Messenger from a certain Dejan Radinović.
She stated that she received the offensive message "a few minutes after a colleague from the parliamentary benches alluded that he might organize a campaign of online attacks against her."
Pejović had an argument with a Democratic MP at the Legislative Committee, ahead of the Assembly session where MPs discussed the Government's agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Duško Stjepović.
He pointed out that Pejović has been calling out MPs for integrity all day long and that people close to her are calling for "spitting on MPs."
"...I ask you to be careful what you say as a fellow MP, not to target people, because your targeting could have consequences that you would not want," said Stjepović.
Pejović was the target of inappropriate comments on social media recently, after she suggested introducing menstrual leave.
There are also ongoing attacks on social media against the Europe Now (PES) MEP. Jelena Nedović, and in the earlier period also to the MP of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Aleksandr Vuković Kuč, former official of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Draginja Vuksanović, former minister Vesna Bratić...
And the Executive Director of MANS, Vanja Ćalović Marković, recently, after harsh criticism of the agreement with the UAE, faced a misogynistic attack via the Facebook page “Narodna sloga”, which published a photo of a Dalmatian dog, alluding to a dirty campaign from 2014. This page, associated with PES, was soon removed after condemnations from the civil sector, political parties and institutions. The Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica has opened a case regarding this incident, while the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights has called for the immediate prosecution of those responsible. PES distanced itself from the post, stating that they do not manage the page, but rather that it is most likely the party’s sympathizers, and the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic condemned the attack, calling for reasoned debate instead of "filth"...
Also, after the parliament approved the agreements with the UAE, the Facebook profiles of the users Jovane Kikanovic Insults addressed to the wife of Prime Minister Spajić and to all women in Montenegro.
LOUD ON THE NETWORKS, SILENT IN THE COURTHOUSES
"Although many in Montenegro like to call for humanity and respect for women, in practice, unfortunately, we are witnessing growing misogyny," Marinović said.
This, she added, especially applies to women in the public sphere, who are often the target of aggressive and vulgar attacks, and this is given additional impetus by the misuse of social networks.
"As soon as a woman comes forward with a position, especially with critical thinking, she becomes a target, and threats arrive precisely because of that engagement, and in the most mundane way," said Marinović.
According to her, it is interesting how some, who were "loud" in inappropriate attacks on social media, became very quiet in courtrooms and mostly defended themselves by saying that someone had allegedly hacked their account, or that they didn't think so.
He believes that this indicates that such attacks are carried out by cowards, who, in the absence of arguments and in the deceptive belief that they are protected behind a keyboard, do unacceptable things.
"That they know that this is unacceptable is proven by the fact that they are not behind such crimes when they are discovered," said Marinović.
Bošnjak believes that in the case of Jevrosima Pejović, what is bothersome is that she is an independent MP, does not have a party leader and expresses her views loudly and clearly.
"And then the lower level, who does the dirty work for some party boss, starts an action of insulting and belittling. And they are not aware that this only strengthens those women who are already in the political arena, but I am afraid that it will discourage those who have yet to enter that arena. Because it is not easy, their family members read it, it is stressful for all of them...", said Bošnjak.
ATTACKS GO UNNOTICED TO THE AVERAGE CITIZEN
Marinović believes that the public and voters do not recognize this type of attack as a problem, because the fact that this type of behavior is constantly repeated and that the public almost no longer reacts to it, except for constant reactions from a small part of civil society, speaks volumes.
"In a society where misogyny is normalized, these kinds of attacks are no longer seen as an exception but as an expected part of public discourse," she said.
She pointed out that when there is no public condemnation of all this, institutions remain silent, and ruling parties often incite attacks, it is not surprising that attacks against women who are free to publicly express their opinions and views are a "normal occurrence."
"In addition, it seems that we have a retraditionalization in home education, through the attitude towards girls and boys, although this has never been ideal in our country," Marinović assessed.
THE MEDIA IS NOT HELPING EVEN
Branka Bošnjak believes that the media is not very supportive of women either, in the sense that they promote women's political activism a little too much.
"I'm sure an analysis would show that men are much more frequent guests when it comes to political debates than women. And even when they report from Parliament sessions, the reports do not take gender balance into account... although I'm sure the parties are also to blame because they delegate men to debates on television," said Bošnjak.
Marinović assessed that portals, in the race for clicks, allow comments that any professional media outlet would have to distance itself from, or delete.
"It's a great space for the spread of misogyny and sexist attitudes because some think that anonymity gives them the freedom to insult, belittle and attack without any responsibility," said Marinović.
Zdenka Popović: A serious alarm for society
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Zdenka Popović said on Sunday that women in Montenegro must not and will not be left to their own devices in the face of abusers.
She strongly condemned the misogynistic attack on City Television journalist Magdalena Čelanović, to whom Clinical Center doctor Vladimir Peruničić made sexist, offensive and threatening comments on social media. The Court of Misdemeanors yesterday fined Peruničić a maximum fine of 1.000 euros, along with the mandatory security measure of mandatory treatment for alcoholism at liberty and in outpatient settings.
"This is not just an individual attack, but an attack on all women who do their jobs every day, with professionalism and integrity. The threats, insults and indecent messages that our fellow citizen suffered represent a brutal violation of human dignity and a serious alarm for the entire society," said Popović.
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