Experts assess the attitudes of Montenegrin citizens regarding sexual violence against girls and women as alarming. They believe that progress will come through the economic empowerment and independence of women.
Almost half of the men in Montenegro believe that women at work enjoy sexual attention from male colleagues, a third of men claim that women sometimes invent sexual violence in order to extort money from their employers.
These are the results of research from October 8, which the non-governmental organization Safe Women's House assessed as "alarming".
More than a quarter of respondents believe that rape victims are actually women who had sexual intercourse, but "changed their minds" after it.
A quarter believe that women who say they have experienced sexual violence make up or exaggerate claims of abuse or rape.
A fifth of men believe that when women say "NO" they actually mean "YES".
A quarter of men believe that marital rape does not exist. If a woman is raped, almost a fifth of those surveyed believe that she did something that led to it.
What determines these attitudes?
"Most findings from research are only the tip of the iceberg," psychologist Radoje Cerović told Radio Free Europe (RSE).
"That tip of the iceberg belongs to a general cultural setting and way of thinking, which deeply and inextricably belong to the culture of Montenegro, at this moment. But not only Montenegro, but a number of related cultural entities," Cerović believes.
Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić, sociologist Biljana Maslovarić, while noting that she is appalled by the views from the research, says for RSE that it is internalized domination.
It is a false belief about self-worth held by a dominant group, in this case, men.
"Here par excellence is visible, it is a learned behavior. It survives thanks to wrong education and a distorted cycle of socialization, and it is supported daily by experiences of superiority, which seem benign to that dominant group," says Maslovarić.
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The term benign, Maslovarić explains, refers to the fact that they are not aware of the problematic nature of their attitudes about women.
"This internalization of supremacy begins at an early age, with biased and inaccurate information that is received at home, at school, in institutions, through religion, through the media, where the right to something becomes normal, expected for the social order. The right that is instilled acquires by birth, that's your matrix, men behave like this, and women like this," adds Maslovarić.
And that kind of dominance is normal for them, says the professor, in every kind of relationship.
"And the subordinate group, in this case it is clear that it is about women, is systematically denounced, humiliated, exploited, or mistreated by the members of the dominant group, i.e. the one that has power in society. While myths protect and give power to the dominant group, the subordinate the group remains powerless and in a confused state of its own subjugation," said Biljane Maslovarić.
Where is the root of the problem?
Psychologist Cerović explains that these attitudes of men do not come from wrong parenting, as is often simplified and believed.
According to Cerović, it is about very deep psychological conditioning, which originates from what the individual has seen and experienced in the family.
"What becomes part of us is the cultural pattern that we have seen and are surrounded by. Such as the relationship between parents, the relationship of the mother to herself, the relationship of the father to the mother, and the relationship of the father to himself. That kind of automaticity requires an, unfortunately, transgenerational process. "It largely implies and is tied to economic opportunities and the economic emancipation of women," says Cerović.
The causes of the "mistake" in men's attitudes are, says Maslovarić, in the educational system, partly in tradition, family, culture, institutions, language and behavior of individuals.
She assesses that the results of the research are a product of the consciousness of some men, who see a woman exclusively as an object, and not as an active member of society.
Centralized and hyper-bureaucratized institutions, which are a barrier to the economic and political power of women, contribute to this, as they are absent where they are governed and where the power is.
In addition to gender, Maslovarić sees several other segments of discrimination.
"For example, we talk about age, about the so-called ageism, that for some ages something belongs, and for others it doesn't. Then we talk about physical abilities, there is discrimination in society, people who have certain physical difficulties; religious beliefs, sexual preferences," says Maslovarić
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Because of fear, female victims generally do not report the crimes
Women, on the other hand, see sexual violence as a very important problem, research shows.
As many as 56 percent of women believe that sexual violence occurs often, and one in three between the ages of 18 and 34 believes that she is at risk of this type of violence. The most common reason they state is that "we live in a violent society".
Almost 80 percent of those surveyed believe that the punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence in Montenegro are too light, and almost 70 percent believe that the victims are condemned in advance by society.
"The most common reasons for not reporting sexual violence are fear and embarrassment from the public, lack of trust in institutions, patriarchal upbringing and tradition, and doubt that anyone would believe them," the research states.
Changing attitudes is a long-term process
The solution, Maslovarić says, is to be found in changing the attitudes of individuals - "and that's the process".
According to Cerović, in order to change entrenched attitudes, it is important to understand that cultural transformation is a long-term process, which should include both men and women.
"Namely, both of them are the bearers of the transgenerational transmission of cultural patterns that we are talking about. Mothers, to a significant extent, transmit the transgenerational cultural pattern," Maslovarić points out.
Cerović, like Maslovarić, see the solution in the economic empowerment of women.
"The moment when a woman does not depend on anyone for survival or raising offspring, then we put things on an egalitarian basis. I believe that the emancipation of women passes, very significantly, through economic emancipation," concludes Cerović.
Public opinion research on the perception of sexual violence against girls and women in Montenegro for the Safe Women's House was conducted on a representative sample of 800 respondents aged 18 to 65 for Montenegro.
Montenegro signed the Istanbul Convention, the first European and most far-reaching international treaty to combat violence against women and domestic violence, in 2011, and two years later it entered into force.
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