Penalties for sexual offenses against young people and children are lenient and often include probation and short prison sentences, which is why it is necessary to strengthen penal policies to encourage victims to report abusers, achieve an adequate deterrent effect and strengthen confidence in the justice system.
This is how it was announced from the PR Center in a message from the conference organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Prima on the occasion of the presentation of the project "First line of resistance to gender-based violence", which is financed by the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) in Montenegro through the Small Grants Program of the Democratic Commission.
The US Ambassador to Montenegro, Judy Reising Rajnke, pointed out that the project aims to combat sexual and gender-based violence with a focus on youth, and that it is very important to work on raising awareness of this social problem, as well as providing support for its victims.
"In Montenegro, as in many other countries of the world, gender-based violence remains a significant challenge for human rights, often under the influence of entrenched social norms and insufficient institutional response," said Rajnke, adding that data on femicide in Montenegro show worrying trends.
"I am extremely proud that we support initiatives like this, whose goal is to prevent and fight against this problem that threatens the well-being of our societies and all citizens," said Rajnke.
The annual campaign "16 days of activism against violence against women" reminds us, as she pointed out, that a brighter future, without violence, is possible if we act together and if we act now.
"Resolving gender-based violence requires the joint effort of all social actors - the government, its institutions and the community, in order to send a clear message to the perpetrators that gender-based violence will not be tolerated and that every perpetrator of such acts will be punished in accordance with the law," she announced. Reinke.
She emphasized that gender-based violence is a global problem and therefore global efforts should be made to solve it.
“The United States remains firmly committed to preventing and responding to all forms of gender-based violence. "During the past year alone, the US Government provided more than 273 million dollars for the prevention and response to gender-based violence in emergency situations," said Rajnke.
The executive director of the NGO Prima, Aida Perović, said that she does not know for sure whether there was more gender-based violence before, or whether it exists now, but she is sure that it is not even a milligram less than it used to be.
"Gender-based violence is not decreasing, but is in full swing. I would single out three reasons. The first is the lack of prevention. Where it exists, I think we could start it at a much younger age, from kindergarten. Another reason I see is the lack of programs for working with bullies. We need some kind of resocialization programs. Both prevention and resocialization are part of the promotion of the culture of nonviolence, which we desperately need in Montenegro. And thirdly, I think we need stronger energy among the representatives of institutions and the civil sector, to be on the same task, to build our society with dedication as more inclusive, fairer, according to the measure of all citizens, "said Perović.
The representative of NGO Prima, Anđela Žarić, said that the project included a cycle of caring families, training for psychologists, pedagogues from vocational secondary schools and high schools, training of peer educators and administrators of youth services, workshops with young people, educational promotional materials and monitoring reports on the work of courts in cases of gender and sexual violence.
"There were 25 participants from 14 municipalities at the training for psychologists and pedagogues. A lot of emphasis was placed on the abuse of intimate recordings, among high school students, but also among elementary school students, so we heard again how big a problem it is in Montenegro," Žarić pointed out.
The training of peer educators, educators and administrators of youth services in Montenegro gathered 26 participants in Žabljak.
"We held 19 workshops with young people in 15 Montenegrin municipalities and over 230 young people were educated about gender and sexual violence. The interest was great, which makes us happy, but also sad, because it shows how big a problem this actually is that we have to repeat and point out so many times what gender and sexual violence is," said Žarić.
Senior researcher, Aleksandra Gligorović, who presented the Monitoring Report on the work of courts in cases of gender and sexual violence, indicated that there are not many reports, but this is not an indication that there is no gender and sexual violence.
"The lack of reports does not mean that there is less violence, but that it is not often reported. The reasons for this can be attributed to the stigmatization of the victims and their families, the fear of the perpetrators' revenge. One of the reasons is the lack of trust in the justice system and insufficient awareness of victims' rights. "Victims, perhaps, do not have adequate access to support systems in terms of providing them with security, encouraging them to report violence," said Gligorović.
She emphasized that the sentences imposed are light.
"I think that the punishments are not adequate and properly defined. Very often they are mild, a large number of them include suspended sentences, short prison terms or acquittals. There were also fines for some acts related to domestic violence. "There is a mismatch of punishments with international standards," Gligorović said.
He believes that it is necessary to tighten the criminal policy by imposing stricter sentences for sexual offenses against young people and children.
"It is necessary to understand the effect of sexual offenses on young people and children and to make better decisions for their well-being and future development. What is needed is not only additional training, but also the strengthening of the awareness of judges and prosecutors. We also believe that it is important to establish better support for victims. Confidence in the justice system must be strengthened, and this will only be achieved if decisions are made in the right way and if through practice it is seen that the situation has improved, that the perpetrators have been punished. Institutional responsibility and stricter control over law enforcement is needed," Gligorović pointed out.
In this year, there were 566 cases of violence in the family or family community.
"The number of legally resolved cases is 115, there are 114 guilty verdicts, one was acquitted, and in two cases the proceedings were suspended," said Gligorović.
The highest sentence for this year is one year and five months, and the lowest is 30 days.
"Almost 30 percent of cases are still unresolved, which indicates congestion of the judiciary, or a lack of resources for timely processing," said Gligorović.
Data for the year 2023 show that there were a total of 443 cases, of which 253 convictions, five acquittals, two suspensions of proceedings and two rejections.
"Types of punishments in 2023 show that prison sentences are the most frequently imposed (77). The average sentence is 4.7 months, and the highest number of sentences is from three to four months. The longest sentences of one to two years were imposed only in eight percent of cases. A large number were suspended sentences (52), which indicates insufficient determination in deterring abusers, especially in more serious cases of violence, which can leave victims vulnerable and create a perception of impunity for the perpetrators," explained Gligorović.
Bonus video:
