The Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms recommended to the Police Administration to continue with actions aimed at identifying and prosecuting persons who spread misogynistic and sexist speech against the MP Dragice Sekulić on the Facebook page of the "Volim Podgorica" portal.
The Institution of the Protector pointed out about 40 offensive comments on the account of the letter below the text entitled "With the blessing of the Pope, if you choose to give birth in a certain municipality, you will receive 500 or 1000 euros".
"The controversial comments contain stigmatizing statements against women, where the sole aim is to disparage women, especially in the context of fulfilling the role of mother. The insulting and humiliating comments insult the honor, reputation and dignity of Sekulić, who is a public figure - a member of the Parliament, and are examples of intolerant, stigmatizing, misogynistic and discriminatory speech in the public space, which as such did not contribute to a reasoned discussion based on the topic in question," it is stated. in the opinion of the Deputy Protector Nerma Dobardžić.
In the defender's opinion, offensive comments on social networks promote sexism, misogyny, gender stereotypes and general discrimination against women in public and professional life.
"Such messages have a negative effect on other women and discourage them from actively participating in public and political life, because they risk being exposed to misogynistic and sexist insults in the media, but also in the community, when their views do not coincide with the views of other individuals or group", says Dobardžić.
The deputy of the Democratic Party of Socialists told the officials that, among other things, certain comments caused her great anxiety and fear, both for her and for her family, and that she perceives them as a great insult, which was inflicted on her as a public figure. She also stated that she holds the main and responsible editor of the portal particularly responsible.
The comments, the opinion points out, have since been deleted.
The Police Directorate said that the police officers of the Podgorica Security Center identified 35 citizens based on the report, 13 of whom were from the territory of the capital and a misdemeanor report was filed against all of them, while the remaining 22 citizens were from the territory of other municipalities, i.e. the police security department, which the files were forwarded for further work and action.
Dobardžić gave a recommendation to the "Volim Podgorica" portal to control and moderate comments in the future in order to prevent the publication of views that provoke, spread, incite and justify misogynistic, sexist speech and discrimination of women based on gender, as a personal characteristic.
The recommendation of the UP is that in the future, in possibly similar situations, when qualifying a misdemeanor, it should also take into account the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which provides for hate speech as a special form of discrimination.
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