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00:00:24Good evening, this is another red line, I am Marina Fratucan, about 20
00:00:28women are killed annually in each of the countries in the region, and about
00:00:3215 more have been subjected to attempted murder. In only
00:00:356% of cases, the perpetrator is unknown. However, murders
00:00:39have not been prevented. Is femicide predictable? Is there a typical
00:00:42profile of an abusive killer? Do you recognize, does the
00:00:46system recognize the risk to the victim, or is femicide a systemic failure?
00:00:49Will femicide become a separate criminal offense in Serbia and Republika
00:00:53Srpska, as it has been since 2024 in
00:00:55Croatia and last year in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or are amendments
00:00:59to... the law on domestic violence sufficient? Why did the Croatian Parliament
00:01:03reject the formation of a parliamentary investigative commission for femicide? Would
00:01:07continuous joint action by the police, social work centers,
00:01:11and citizens reduce the number of murdered women in the countries of the region, but
00:01:14what is the role of the media and publicly spoken words in preventing
00:01:18femicide? Tonight, Vesna of the region on the red line. Good evening everyone, good
00:01:22in the Republic of Croatia,
00:01:25Azra Husarić Omerović from the Women's
00:01:35the reason, the infamous figure,
00:01:38and reminds us of is increasing, one would say, every month, unfortunately, in the countries of the region, another
00:01:42woman has been killed, the last femicide was recorded
00:01:45last weekend in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
00:01:49uh, and what we could hear, actually,
00:01:52it's about a female journalist, according to all parameters, it somehow
00:01:56seems that the murder could have been prevented, at least theoretically.
00:02:00According to institutions, a restraining order was in place, violence was reported, a history
00:02:03of violence exists for the perpetrator of violence against his mother and
00:02:07brother from 10 years ago, yet there was a permit
00:02:10for carrying a weapon, he was a security guard and so on,
00:02:14uh, so, Mrs. Huserić Omerović, what
00:02:17would you say, who actually failed here? For a week now,
00:02:21in the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in the region, we can
00:02:24read articles, watch reports about
00:02:28femicide, who failed here? The system, how do you
00:02:31see this
00:02:35in a large number, women, and situation? Somewhere it seems to me that I am repeating myself by saying that the
00:02:39system failed, but yes, the system failed in this case of the last
00:02:43femicide in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo where our colleague
00:02:46Elma, a journalist colleague, was killed. It failed
00:02:49because it did not provide a response to all those calls for
00:02:53help that she made, and which she used in accordance with
00:02:56the law. Last year, we really had amendments to the Criminal
00:03:00Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
00:03:02mm the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence against
00:03:06Children mm which was praised by
00:03:08civil society organizations and the media
00:03:12sector because these changes really brought
00:03:15more urgent protection measures and a better support system for women
00:03:19victims of violence, as well as stricter penalties and greater mechanisms
00:03:22of protection and support for police officers. However,
00:03:25what we pointed out after the adoption of the law, that was
00:03:29in... in August last year, is that
00:03:32the law will remain a dead letter on paper if institutions do
00:03:36not implement it in practice. This was
00:03:39actually the greatest fear of organizations that spoke about it,
00:03:42which were somewhat involved in the adoption of the provisions
00:03:45of the law, and which was seen actually in several
00:03:48cases that the law actually failed because
00:03:52those institutional actors who were supposed to implement it did not
00:03:56implement it. In the last case, as you mentioned at the beginning, uhm...
00:04:00the victim of the murder actually took all the steps that a victim
00:04:04can take, but the system did not respond. Here we have
00:04:06a multiple perpetrator of violence, or a repeat offender of violence,
00:04:10whom the system did not remove from the victim in some way.
00:04:13Again, as a society, we have failed because we have
00:04:17shifted the responsibility and burden to the victim, because we have allowed
00:04:21the media and society to once again look for
00:04:24the culprit and the role of that violence in the victim,
00:04:27and that is why the informal group
00:04:31of journalists issued a public reaction in an effort to
00:04:34prevent and warn that such mechanisms can prevent
00:04:37and disable other victims of violence who
00:04:40are currently experiencing some form of violence from
00:04:44seeking help or doing anything, because as
00:04:46a society, we are condemning victims again, in a way, we are giving the system
00:04:50a free hand and saying it's okay that you didn't do anything.
00:04:54The Women's Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that
00:04:57unsupervised restraining orders do not protect women from femicide.
00:05:00Yes, supervision in what sense, in what specific
00:05:02way?
00:05:05The restraining order issued in this case did not yield
00:05:09results for protection. He violated the restraining order.
00:05:12And the police, that is, the police officers did not
00:05:16issue him a penalty for that, that is, the competent court did not issue
00:05:19a penalty, although it could have issued a detention measure or an electronic
00:05:23ankle bracelet, which was really praised last year
00:05:26when the law was adopted and started to be implemented
00:05:30in the procedure, and which would in some way prevent him from
00:05:34approaching the victim, because it would notify the nearest
00:05:37police station that he is violating that restraining order and the
00:05:41murder would not have happened. That is, he would not have been able to commit any form
00:05:44of violence against that victim. Protection measures
00:05:47failed because all those mechanisms that could have led to that protection measure
00:05:51uh resulting in in practice.
00:05:55protection for the woman were not fully implemented
00:05:58When it comes to Serbia, uh Vanja
00:06:01the law still does not recognize in the Republic
00:06:05of Serbia femicide as a separate criminal offense in the criminal code,
00:06:08we have this law on the prevention of violence in the family, it is quite rigorous and here...
00:06:12we heard that these measures are quite
00:06:15strong, how can I say, and that's why I asked the question in the introduction whether it is necessary for
00:06:19it to be recognized, we know it is, but let's explain, uh therefore
00:06:23we have this law on the prevention of violence in the family where these institutions should
00:06:27react promptly, uh and the police
00:06:29and the prosecutor's office and so on, a restraining order which immediately includes
00:06:33isolating the victim, however now it's
00:06:36the end or beginning of May, we have four victims of femicide in
00:06:40Serbia and we don't have... femicide as a separate criminal
00:06:43offense and what is interesting to me is that we actually don't even have any kind of
00:06:47serious debate about it, it's only sporadically
00:06:51mentioned and I would say that we haven't yet reached the level where
00:06:54we actually hear really valid arguments for
00:06:58and against, it's somehow always a topic when either a
00:07:02femicide occurs or when it's the day of remembrance for victims
00:07:05of partner violence, which is otherwise soon, May 18th, if
00:07:08I'm not mistaken, then it's a topic and of course it's...
00:07:12that question is raised by organizations that deal with
00:07:15this problem, mainly the Autonomous Women's Center, Fenplac and
00:07:19so on, and uh, I think that
00:07:22the problem there is primarily also with us in the media, that we don't raise that
00:07:26question in such a way that
00:07:38what, for example, organizations that
00:07:41deal with this insist on is the formation of a body for monitoring
00:07:45femicide, and I think that somewhere that would be perhaps a good step, that
00:07:49femicide watch, but we don't even have a central
00:07:52register, so we're entering mid-
00:07:562026. Last year, for example,
00:07:59the strategy expired, so it was extended,
00:08:02and despite the fact that the law
00:08:06that you mentioned actually foresees certain
00:08:09measures and despite the fact that, for example, all those organizations have
00:08:13collaborated and are still working with prosecutors, social
00:08:17work centers, everyone who somehow participates in that
00:08:20chain of help and prevention, still
00:08:23we ultimately come to the conclusion that everything depends on a case-by-case basis, that is,
00:08:27it depends on how
00:08:30each of them was involved, how much they participated, to what
00:08:34extent they simply did it
00:08:37in education, to what extent, for example, the police,
00:08:40prosecutors, social work centers invested in
00:08:44being sensitized to these issues, to properly
00:08:47recognize, for example, if it happens that the risk
00:08:51assessment was not done well, then consequently the
00:08:55measure that will be imposed on someone who has been reported for violence
00:08:58may not be adequate, and consequently we come to the conclusion that
00:09:02the victim is in greater danger, that there is a threat
00:09:06that in the end, perhaps, she will be killed. The Movement of Free Citizens recently
00:09:10submitted again to parliamentary procedure this request for femicide
00:09:13to be included in the criminal code as a separate criminal
00:09:16offense. Here you also said that there is no public
00:09:19debate. Do you expect it to be on the agenda soon
00:09:23or not? What are your findings, so
00:09:27to speak, since you deal with this topic both from a journalistic angle and
00:09:30as an activist? Yes, I am also a member of the group
00:09:34Journalists Against Violence Against Women, as well as colleagues from Bosnia,
00:09:37that is, guests from Bosnia, and recently we had a joint meeting
00:09:41here in Belgrade, where we discussed how we, as
00:09:45journalists, and there were activists, there were women working
00:09:48in social work centers, how we can all
00:09:52contribute to changing that picture both in the media and
00:09:56simply that work on the prevention of partner
00:09:59violence and femicide. I would
00:10:02say, simply knowing the current social circumstances in Serbia, that this
00:10:06will not be a topic for us anytime soon, because we simply see that
00:10:09the focus is now on election laws, so-called
00:10:13judicial laws, that's simply
00:10:16the current climate in Serbia. This topic, despite the fact that, for example,
00:10:20there are parliamentary parties that will
00:10:23support it. There will be those who will support it and bring that
00:10:27topic into focus, we still somewhat expect it
00:10:31to happen soon, because simply this spring session is also ending
00:10:34soon, and everything will go towards finishing with these laws that
00:10:38are important to us because of some upcoming elections. Yes, uh,
00:10:42Ms. Ljubičić, let's now get to, I intentionally left Croatia, uh, as the last
00:10:46of these three countries, uh, is Croatia in the European Union where the
00:10:50law was changed in 2024, it is
00:10:53a separate criminal offense, right? So femicide has been included
00:10:57in the criminal code. Here we heard what Serbia
00:11:00insists on, uh, that special body that would monitor
00:11:04femicide. Uh, in the Parliament, there was a very heated
00:11:08debate. The Možemo! party demanded, uh, that a
00:11:11parliamentary investigative commission for femicide be
00:11:15established. This was rejected, right? The law, I say,
00:11:18exists. Uh, and it was
00:11:21heated, uh, in this...
00:11:25how can I say, confrontation of those who want it and those who don't,
00:11:28what is your position, because would this
00:11:32uh body be able to help prevent it?
00:11:36You presented the latest research, not at all, so to
00:11:40speak, optimistic when it comes to Croatia, despite the fact that
00:11:43uh, as I said, femicide has been included as a separate criminal
00:11:46offense. You have asked many questions for
00:11:50a start, well, here in 2024,
00:11:54uh. The Republic of Croatia has introduced a special criminal offense that
00:11:57is not, however, called femicide, it is called uh aggravated
00:12:01murder of a female person, but what we achieved
00:12:04by introducing that criminal offense is that we
00:12:07managed to introduce the definition of gender- based violence from the
00:12:10Istanbul Convention into the conceptual
00:12:14criminal law. In this way, we actually
00:12:17described what kind of crime it is, what kind of
00:12:20criminal offense it is, meaning the murder
00:12:24of a female person, which is conditioned, which is the result of gender-
00:12:27based violence. We previously had
00:12:30the murder of a person
00:12:33as an aggravating circumstance if it was a close person, if it was
00:12:37committed out of hatred, and so on. However, since
00:12:412016, 2017,
00:12:43in the public and professional sphere, there has been a lot of
00:12:47talk about the murders of female
00:12:50persons, about femicide, and what that actually means,
00:12:53in what way. Uh, it affects
00:12:57exclusively,
00:13:00in what way we as a society, as institutions, can act
00:13:04to close that circle of violence and recognize all risks
00:13:08and risk factors, led to the inclusion of a special criminal
00:13:12offense in 2024. However, what happened
00:13:15to us in 2024?
00:13:17Well, now we have already finished the first quarter of 2026.
00:13:21We have 11 initiated proceedings related to the criminal
00:13:26offense of femicide. Five judgments have been passed,
00:13:30two are final, three are not yet final,
00:13:33and we
00:13:36see that there is not enough
00:13:39gender-sensitive approach,
00:13:42gender sensitivity towards
00:13:46perpetrators of such acts.
00:13:49In general, when we talk about gender- based violence, about
00:13:52all the intensity of
00:13:55violence that occurs, so I'm talking about all forms of gender-based
00:13:59violence, whether it's sexual violence or
00:14:01other forms
00:14:04of violence, we see that we lack sufficient
00:14:08information exchange, sufficient networking of all
00:14:11institutions, gender-sensitive
00:14:14approach, frequent violations, as
00:14:18Mrs. Vanja said and
00:14:21Azra from Tuzla. So, violation of protective
00:14:25measures, violation of precautionary
00:14:28measures that lead
00:14:32to a situation when a harmful
00:14:35uh harmful act occurs, so
00:14:38femicide. When we talk, therefore, what
00:14:41we are witnessing now is that we have an extremely
00:14:44good national framework, a well-established
00:14:48criminal legal system, however,
00:14:52problems always arise in implementation.
00:14:55The implementation of such a legal framework,
00:14:58uh, in the education of all those
00:15:01stakeholders who participate in
00:15:05prosecuting, from law enforcement agencies to expert
00:15:08psychological assistance, and then to judicial bodies
00:15:11that uh uh
00:15:14process such cases. So, one might say,
00:15:18excuse me for interrupting, that despite the adoption of the law, the circumstances and
00:15:21context in which the crime occurs are actually very
00:15:25similar in the three countries, although here the law
00:15:28exists. The law exists, but always, at
00:15:31the beginning, in the very announcement, you rightly mentioned, there are
00:15:34several factors besides that legal regulation.
00:15:38Public awareness, social awareness, the role of the media,
00:15:41neo-conservative currents, messages from public figures,
00:15:45public personalities, politicians, female politicians who
00:15:48speak out about this kind of violence, gender-based violence.
00:15:52When we talk about the investigative commission that
00:15:55was proposed by the opposition, about which
00:15:58we recently had a thematic session and a heated
00:16:01parliamentary debate, our position is
00:16:05that all proposals that go
00:16:08towards resolving or improving
00:16:11the resolution of
00:16:15reducing gender-based violence, that is, reducing the number
00:16:18of femicide cases, are welcome. However,
00:16:22if situations arise when a certain topic is
00:16:26used as a political weapon, it is not good.
00:16:29We believe that today,
00:16:33human rights are uh
00:16:36something that we, as egalitarian, organized
00:16:40societies, have taken on and committed to since
00:16:432000, when we, uh,
00:16:46incorporated the constitutional principle of gender equality into our constitution.
00:16:51Many other fundamental values are something
00:16:54that we need to constantly improve, both through
00:16:58judicial practice and through international European systems, and so on.
00:17:01This parliamentary investigative commission, excuse me, this
00:17:05commission that was proposed. So,
00:17:08I would mention that it would
00:17:12probably be about parallel systems,
00:17:15because, precisely as an institution, in 2017,
00:17:18we established a multidisciplinary body
00:17:21that includes judges, criminal lawyers,
00:17:24and judges from the High Misdemeanor Court,
00:17:28the academic community, the Faculty of Law, the Ministry of
00:17:31Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the relevant Ministry of
00:17:35Social Affairs, organizations of civil society dealing with
00:17:39sexual violence, so and other
00:17:43independent experts, or female experts, where
00:17:46for the last nine years we have been analyzing all cases
00:17:49of femicide that have occurred, and through our
00:17:52report on about
00:17:56twenty pages, we explain,
00:17:59we analyze to what omissions occurred in each of
00:18:03those cases. So you think that something similar already exists, so there's no need
00:18:07to duplicate it,
00:18:15the data in the second part of the show, we will talk a bit about the data, and you have
00:18:19the latest uh uh data from 2024,
00:18:23uh, Vanja also participated in the media analysis, which is very
00:18:26important, in what way actually uh in the
00:18:29media sector forms
00:18:33uh and cases of femicide are recorded, but let's go back to why we started
00:18:37this show, this latest reason in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo. So, violence
00:18:41reported, restraining order in force on paper, record
00:18:44of violent behavior towards the closest family members, yet
00:18:47a weapon permit, the possibility for the ex-wife to be killed
00:18:51in front of their minor child. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, femicide
00:18:55is recognized as a separate criminal offense, and there is a procedure for handling
00:18:59penalties for perpetrators. The crime still happened, who failed? Will
00:19:02anyone besides the killer be held accountable? How was the victim
00:19:05of violence treated in the media? How sensitized are we as a society to
00:19:08femicide? Do we actually know what it means? Many more questions, as
00:19:12every time femicide happens in this region,
00:19:15even three times more than in the European
00:19:18Union. In the Sarajevo neighborhood of Dobrinja, where Elma
00:19:22unsuccessfully tried to find her peace and a new beginning,
00:19:25today there is shock and silence. Horrible,
00:19:29there's no more protection here some, no, no,
00:19:33there's no organized state first, this is impossible.
00:19:36What's happening, we're not safe on the street, at home, or anywhere
00:19:39else, not for our child, not for ourselves, I was really
00:19:43surprised yesterday when I heard,
00:19:46I'm so sorry, but you see what the
00:19:49situation is like here,
00:19:51they can't protect a woman, a woman,
00:19:55she even reported it, as far as I read, she had
00:19:59he had a restraining order and everything,
00:20:02but that means nothing, horrible.
00:20:05So, the key question now
00:20:08is, how could someone after two
00:20:11reports for a restraining order against the victim,
00:20:14after a divorce situation which is itself
00:20:18a risk factor, after the appearance of a man who works, so in
00:20:22an agency that deals with protection, has
00:20:26access to weapons, has access to monitoring mechanisms,
00:20:29simply has a different insight into the victim's situation,
00:20:32so how could anyone allow
00:20:35him to simply go through with a measure on paper?
00:20:39The protective measure again failed to protect
00:20:42the victim. Last year, amendments to the law
00:20:46on protection against violence against women were triumphantly announced, which were then adopted in the Parliament
00:20:49of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was emphasized
00:20:53that from now on, perpetrators would wear electronic ankle bracelets
00:20:56when restraining orders were issued against them. In practice, this is still
00:21:00not happening. The specific problem with the police,
00:21:03as far as we know, is that they are absolutely not
00:21:06up to date with the law, because on the day the
00:21:10law came into force, they should have had equipment, they should have had a mechanism, they should
00:21:14have had absolutely everything, or within a short period of time that the
00:21:17law would allow, to provide all
00:21:21that. Since that didn't happen, we essentially have a void in
00:21:24practice again compared to what is written on paper.
00:21:28Experts explain that most killers were previously reported
00:21:31for domestic violence, which further highlights the importance
00:21:35of timely reaction. It is clear that the pattern repeats due to the
00:21:38slowness of the system. According to the law, police bodies, prosecutor's
00:21:42offices, courts, guardianship authorities, health and educational
00:21:45institutions, and institutes for free
00:21:48legal aid are obliged to provide assistance and support to victims of violence.
00:21:52What have the security agencies done? They say they can't do anything until it happens, so now that she's killed, now they can
00:21:56measure something, right? This and that, how much was the entrance to the building,
00:21:59and so on, they blocked half of Dobrinja yesterday, measuring something, what are they
00:22:03measuring now, what are they measuring now, remove
00:22:06these people, every neighborhood has one potential killer,
00:22:10right? He just walks around and says he doesn't know what to do with him,
00:22:13you don't know what to do with him. Tragedies could be prevented
00:22:17if the courts were much more agile in ordering detention measures.
00:22:21The absence of that in this case proved fatal.
00:22:24The Deputy Minister for Human Rights, Duška Jurišić, emphasizes that the Ministry of Internal Affairs
00:22:28and the prosecutor's office are obliged to explain why detention was not requested, because,
00:22:32according to certain information, Elma reported violations of the
00:22:35restraining order. These are measures prescribed by the new law
00:22:39on protection against domestic violence and violence against women in the Federation of Bosnia
00:22:43and Herzegovina, including a penalty of up to three years in prison
00:22:46in case of violation of measures prohibiting approaching
00:22:50the victim. If there were systemic failures,
00:22:53individuals must be held accountable. In reality,
00:22:56it has been shown again that psychological violence is just one step before
00:23:00femicide. At the same time, the electronic ankle bracelet, provided by law,
00:23:04is practically blocked in the labyrinths of slow bureaucracy, between
00:23:08the federal and cantonal levels. Horrifying statistics about murders
00:23:11do not alarm them that everything implemented so far, Elma would have received
00:23:15a timely warning to hide, and the nearest police
00:23:18would have been alarmed to proceed with education. Instead of such a preventive
00:23:22reaction, another child was left without a mother. Azur
00:23:26Delić, N1.
00:23:29Uh, Mrs. Mirović, what will be the procedure now?
00:23:33Of course, you cannot condemn the criminal, of course, but you are dealing with
00:23:36this topic, what kind of pressure can follow
00:23:40now, uh, do you really think that any of these
00:23:43institutions and representatives of institutions will also be held accountable, as
00:23:46I asked the question in the announcement. Uh,
00:23:50we saw that there were systemic failures,
00:23:54bureaucracy, where this supervision did not come to life and so on, we heard everything in
00:23:58the report, so I won't repeat it. And what
00:24:00can anyone who is watching and listening expect, who is in
00:24:04some potential risk from
00:24:07an abuser who is somewhere nearby
00:24:09or further away?
00:24:11Yes, I believe that the abuser, that is, in this case, the perpetrator
00:24:15of the murder, will be tried under the strictest law, that is, the amendment to the criminal
00:24:19law for... aggravated murder, gender-based aggravated
00:24:22murder, in that way, a higher penalty will be imposed than was previously
00:24:26possible. However, we must talk about other
00:24:28aspects of responsibility, namely, members of the system
00:24:32who might have been able to prevent this murder, which
00:24:35includes the mentioned measures. protection, for example, from the contribution of
00:24:39colleague Azor Delić, in the case of specifically in this
00:24:43case of murder in Sarajevo, he had
00:24:46received restraining orders, he had a previous conviction for
00:24:49domestic violence. However, the problem that remained somewhat invisible, which
00:24:53colleagues from the detector announced today, is that
00:24:56he submitted a certificate of no criminal record to the agency
00:24:59he worked for, which is why he was actually able to access that weapon
00:25:03and commit, in a way, this murder. So,
00:25:07it's a systemic problem how he could get a certificate of no criminal record for a previous
00:25:11conviction for domestic violence. Also, how he violated
00:25:14restraining orders twice, he wasn't given a detention order, and he wasn't fitted
00:25:18with an electronic ankle bracelet. That case must be
00:25:22resolved completely. What I must remind you of, in
00:25:25the case of Inela Selimović, the murder of Inela Selimović from
00:25:28Kalesija, which was also processed under
00:25:31the new amendments to the criminal law, in that case there
00:25:35was a situation where she reported domestic violence,
00:25:38police officers went to the scene and she then said
00:25:42that she was withdrawing, withdrawing the report because he had actually
00:25:46left that apartment when she called the police. The police
00:25:50did not record that report and they are now being tried because they were
00:25:53obliged to act on that report and help
00:25:57the victim protect herself. So, somewhere I must point out that there are
00:26:00good steps forward. In the case of Inela
00:26:04Selimović, the police must be held accountable for
00:26:07their inaction, as they were obliged to act.
00:26:11I hope that in this case, the murder of colleague Elima in Sarajevo will also
00:26:15follow, because the system must take responsibility
00:26:19for missed steps and we all must
00:26:22put pressure on this case, because by
00:26:25putting pressure on the case of Inela Selimović in
00:26:28Kalesija, because the media then exerted the greatest pressure on the police's
00:26:32accountability because it was learned that she had reported it through
00:26:36her family, and actually the procedure started,
00:26:39pardon me, the procedure started, so in this case, the whole society has
00:26:43a responsibility to put pressure on institutions, because institutions have
00:26:46mechanisms to protect victims, they just have to start
00:26:49applying them. When it comes to Serbia, Vanja, women for change in
00:26:53Novi Sad have held, well, there have been several such actions to
00:26:56raise public awareness about the fourth
00:26:59femicide since the beginning of the year in Serbia. How
00:27:03much do you think that kind of pressure, we talked about concrete
00:27:06pressures to do something, we see progress, my colleague said
00:27:10in Bosnia and Herzegovina that there are, uh,
00:27:13I don't know about similar cases for Serbia, I mean,
00:27:16correct me if I'm wrong, uh, but
00:27:19as I said, activists are coming out, addressing
00:27:22citizens, demanding
00:27:24action,
00:27:26well, actually, it's very commendable that every time Women for Change from
00:27:30Novi Sad, that activist group comes out and simply
00:27:34points out that another femicide has occurred, they generally react like that,
00:27:38so after it happens
00:27:41how big of a problem it is that we simply have to talk about it publicly,
00:27:44however, the fact is that a very small number of people
00:27:48always join them and those gatherings are not large and it
00:27:52somehow seems to me that we, regardless of the fact that, for example, we are very
00:27:55connected, I mean these post-Yugoslav societies,
00:27:58we have similar problems, similar
00:28:02contexts, there are still some, I would call them
00:28:05cultural differences, it seems to me that we here in Serbia are not
00:28:09perhaps as sensitive to the loss
00:28:12of a woman's life as is the case in Bosnia, or
00:28:15simply we can look at it in a way
00:28:18that there are such clear system failures
00:28:22that then the whole society and the media react to it, and
00:28:25for me, for example, in this case that we saw from Sarajevo,
00:28:29the case of the murder of a journalist,
00:28:32it's somehow still commendable that we saw these people in
00:28:36the report who point out, who clearly see that there is a system failure and
00:28:39blame the system. Somehow, when the report started, I thought,
00:28:43oh, why did the colleague ask the neighbors for their opinion, because that's exactly
00:28:47something we don't advise, it's not ethical, but it's very good that he didn't
00:28:51ask them for their opinion on the perpetrator, who doesn't
00:28:54romanticize the whole story, but people clearly say that they no longer
00:28:58feel safe in their homes or on the street, and how the state
00:29:02is doing. So, it's very good that they addressed, that they recognized the problem,
00:29:05it seems to me that we still don't
00:29:08have that level of awareness and we somehow don't
00:29:12deal with it in that way, and
00:29:15when I look at the media, again, it's interesting to me that
00:29:19we have still made some progress there and I would like to
00:29:22mention one more thing that the guest from
00:29:26Croatia mentioned, and that is
00:29:28that it is simply everyone's concern, that there are several factors
00:29:32that influence this, that we must look at it from
00:29:35several different angles, so I would say that
00:29:39I would add that we must look at it as something that
00:29:43concerns all of us, so when we talk about partner violence, domestic violence,
00:29:46it is not a private matter, although it is very often seen that way here,
00:29:50we have not moved on from that here in Serbia, we still
00:29:54see it that way, and it would be very important to understand that it is
00:29:57a public matter, that it concerns all of us, that when we hear or when we see,
00:30:01when we know of some... case, that we report it, yes, here for Bosnia and
00:30:05Herzegovina it is quite clear where the failures were pointed out, these four
00:30:07victims, women killed in Serbia, we don't have data,
00:30:11as far as I've seen, uh, that the cases were reported
00:30:14earlier, these are isolated cases, well, I might be
00:30:18wrong, but according to what I've read, there's no such clear
00:30:22institutional violation,
00:30:26so in that sense we can't now determine who else
00:30:29should be held accountable, in any case,
00:30:32that is not a relief or a mitigating circumstance,
00:30:35uh, it is not a mitigating circumstance, of course,
00:30:39it's just about the fact that somehow that cultural problem you mentioned,
00:30:42where, yes, exactly, it's as if something very big, very terrible, has to happen to us
00:30:46to shake us up so that we react then, until then we
00:30:50don't recognize it as a problem at all, even though there were cases in Serbia earlier,
00:30:53it wasn't perhaps so clear where all the failures were made,
00:30:57for example.