CGO: The number of women who experience various forms of violence is growing, and this is not accompanied by an adequate reaction from the institutions

The Center for Civic Education (CGO) announced that it warns of statistics that indicate a growing number of women who experience various forms of violence, which is not accompanied by an adequate reaction of institutions in terms of tightening sanctions.

CGO made a statement in anticipation of March 8 - International Women's Day.

"Additionally, scenes of sexist and misogynistic behavior are present in private, public and online spheres, rooted in gender stereotypes and patriarchal patterns, which persist and make it difficult to achieve gender equality," reads the statement signed by Maja Marinović, program assistant.

According to CGO's research on discrimination, hate speech, misogyny and other forms of digital violence, conducted in October 2022, with the support of the Canadian Embassy, ​​it indicates that there is a huge increase in the perception of discrimination against women compared to previous waves of research from 2019, i.e. in 2016.

"Thus today, 64 percent of respondents believe that women are discriminated against in our society, while that percentage was 2016 percent in 42, or 34 percent in 2019. The deconstruction of gender stereotypes and prejudices is going very slowly, which is also pointed out by the finding that half of the respondents believe that the most important role of a woman in society is to be a good wife and mother," he says.

He adds that it is recognized that women who are engaged in public affairs are exposed to public attacks and hate speech, and that this is more common than in the case of their male colleagues.

"Also, digital misogyny on social networks and portals directly affects women's freedom of expression, as it aims to silence and intimidate them, as we witness in the online space where women are positioned in third place as targets of hate speech, but also through examples of attacks on women who hold public positions, active in public and political life," says Marinović.

The priority need for eradicating all forms of discrimination through legal protection mechanisms and addressing deep-rooted behaviors that degrade and discriminate against women, as he states, is also recognized in the EC's latest report.

"Ignoring the obvious and unacceptable has also led to an increase in cases of gender-based violence. The murders of women who previously reported violence must be a topic to which decision-makers will pay due attention, primarily through the improvement of the system that must provide protection to women victims of violence. Although gender equality in political life, one of the mechanisms for achieving general gender equality is still a significant difference in the participation of men and women in different levels of political decision-making. This is also contributed to by the attitude that men are still cited as better politicians, even though the views are expressed that women are up to par high positions," the statement reads.

As he says, in the local elections held in 2022, the never-sanctioned practice of violating the precise legal provision on fulfilling the minimum quota continued, and in addition, he says, we have only one female candidate in the presidential elections.

"The index of equality between women and men places Montenegro in 67th place among 190 countries included in the World Bank report that focused on the impact of laws on women's economic opportunities," says Marinović.

Montenegrin society, she adds, is still far from achieving gender equality, which requires political will and a decisive systemic response from the state - from the education system through the teaching of young people about the culture of respect for human rights, diversity and breaking down prejudices and gender stereotypes that are the basis of discrimination, to more effective functioning of the judicial system, whose series of inadequate reactions has shaken confidence in the possibility of protecting and punishing gender-based violence.

"Additionally, it is necessary to work on a culture of dialogue, which includes arguments and tolerance towards different opinions instead of distorted inherited patterns of behavior and prejudices and demonstrations of primitivism. As a sign of resistance to the continuous violation of women's human rights, the CGO team will join the March XNUMX march tomorrow to mark the International Day of women, which will be held in Podgorica, organized by the Center for Women's Rights," concludes Marinović.