The cooperation of competent institutions is necessary for an adequate fight against gender-based violence, it was said from the conference "Gender-based violence and justice", which was organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Montenegro and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office (VDT).
Minister of Justice Bojan Božović, on the panel "How to achieve a society of non-violence?", speaking about what his department has done in the fight against gender-based violence, said that the Criminal Code has undergone changes in order to better protect victims, that new criminal offenses have been introduced and tougher penalties.
"We also have a new criminal offense - sexual harassment. We expect that through amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC) we will finally have the concept of a victim within our system, and that through the process aspect the victim will have a better position," said Božović.
He said that femicide does not yet exist as a separate criminal offense, but that there is a possibility that it will be introduced.
Božović said that the problem should be solved multi-departmentally.
"The key thing is that in the coming period we have a CPC that will recognize the victim, that we have the status of the victim in a way that will meet the minimum procedural needs, and that the victims are protected from the beginning to the end of the procedure and after that," said Božović.
He added that it is necessary to strengthen capacities or reorganize existing ones at the level of each institution.
Minister of the Interior Danilo Šaranović said that the police act repressively, only when there are consequences.
"But the strategic development of the police in the coming period implies that the focus will be on preventive, not repressive," said Šaranović.
He said that the state and none of its institutions can express satisfaction in preventing the causes and responding in remediating the consequences.
"I am not satisfied with the response of the police. "We in the Ministry of Internal Affairs do not treat ourselves as a separate entity, but as an indispensable part of the system that must treat this problem as a whole", added Šaranović.
He said that the police have problems with the personnel deficit and the fact that they do not have people who deal only with gender-based violence.
Šaranović announced that changes to the Law on Internal Affairs will include psychophysical and integrity checks of new personnel.
"Inter-institutional cooperation is important in order to have an answer that we could be satisfied with. We need to work on raising awareness. "Gender-based violence is no longer a taboo topic, that's why we have greater freedom for victims to report violence," Saranović said.
Supreme State Prosecutor Milorad Marković said that prosecutors must be specialized in their work and that they too must pass an integrity check.
"There must be people with high moral qualities in the prosecution. The State Prosecutor's Office is obliged to always prosecute any form of violence, whether within the institution itself or in society," added Marković.
He said that any institution cannot do much on its own, but that they must cooperate.
Speaking about the instruction to prosecutors in dealing with cases of gender and domestic violence, Marković said that he issued it because he believes that there must be a systemic response.
"The guidance aims to establish an effective procedure. It is a short period, we cannot talk about the results", said Marković.
He said that his and the ministers' presence on the panel sends a message that they must cooperate and that they are directed at each other.
"We have solid mechanisms and legal norms that give us the opportunity to work better," concluded Marković.
The Minister of Social Care, Family Care and Demography, Damir Gutić, said that it is ungrateful to talk about gender-based violence.
"We know that seven women were killed in the previous seven years. The statistics are inexorable", said Gutić.
He said that the Ministry recognized this problem in time by establishing the Directorate for Protection from Gender-Based and Domestic Violence.
Gutić said that the Directorate monitors the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
"We will make an effort in the coming period to invest additionally in strengthening personnel capacities," added Gutić.
He said that the Ministry, with the help of UNDP, adopted the National Plan for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
Gutić said that they are allocating more and more funds for the financing of shelters, shelters for victims of domestic violence.
"And I hope that in due time we will fully finance all the needs of shelters in Montenegro. I would like to mention that there are currently seven of them, with 78 accommodation capacities", added Gutić.
He said that the Ministry will work on strengthening women's awareness, especially in the north and rural areas.
"I invite everyone, but I also say that the Ministry will always try to use all resources in order to achieve an effect, we should encourage all victims to report violence," said Gutić.
The Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue, Naida Nišić, said that the data show that 17 percent of women suffer some form of sexual violence at the workplace.
"Violence is something that spills over from private life into business life. "Women cannot be as productive, they are absent, unsuitable for teamwork," said Nišić.
She stated that there were cases when bullies made career progress.
"It is necessary to send a message of support to women and everyone else, that their abuser cannot advance in their career and that they will also receive support from their employer," said Nišić.
She said that the amendments to the Labor Act provide for work from home and called for the adoption of that act.
Asked if she thinks that employers will accept working from home, Nišić said that she believes that these ideas are acceptable in practice.
She announced that they plan to organize education for employers and trade unions regarding the prohibition of violence at work and added that in a short period of time they will start a dialogue with employers and trade unions in order to create instructions on how to encourage the victim.
"I am optimistic that we will have a good response when it comes to this topic. We are aware that this problem concerns every individual and institution", said Nišić.
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