The “Fighting Domestic Violence with Multi-Sectoral Cooperation“ seminar was held today in Bor. This one-day seminar is aimed at representatives of all authorities and institutions competent in gender-based violence matters as per the Domestic Violence Prevention Act. “Holding such seminars offers professionals in the field a unique opportunity to learn about the Act. Given that they form a part of a larger team and that they are important partners in fighting domestic violence, the seminar has helped them understand their obligations and what the system expectations of them were”, representative of the Ministry of Justice Gorjana Mirčić-Čakulović stated.
Mirčić-Čakulović noted that team work and cooperation from all the competent authorities was crucial to the protection and the support of domestic violence victims, adding that seminars such as the one held today were only a part of a wide range of activities conducted by the Ministry of Justice. She also said that it was important to give support to the Coordination and Cooperation Groups which had been formed in every basic prosecutor’s office at the local level in Serbia which composed of a prosecutor, a representative of the social welfare centre and a local police officer. “Mentors arrive to those offices to work directly on the given cases offering support in how to resolve the issues surrounding those cases, how to produce individual protection plans and how to support the victims. Colleagues from all parts of the system have been very engaged and I believe that being given the opportunity to engage was very meaningful to them”, she commented.
Mirčić-Čakulović then mentioned that better results and work progress have been notable in cities in which previous seminars had been organised, namely Užice, Čačak, Kruševac, Niš, Kragujevac, Sombor and Belgrade. She said she expected the new brochure outlining the most commonly asked questions about the application and the enforcement of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act would help the broader activities of raising awareness and ultimately eliminating domestic violence.
Professor of the State University of Novi Pazar Emir Ćorović noted the importance of the Coordination and Cooperation Groups prescribed under the Act, which had support and protection of victims of domestic violence as one of the primary goals. “The Act offers a wide range of measures to protect the victims of domestic violence and of criminal offences. The multi-sectoral cooperation stems from the Istanbul Convention which the legislature had noted fortunately. According to the Act, the Coordination and Cooperation Groups have an obligation to cooperate with the police, the prosecutors’ offices, the social welfare centres, the courts of basic jurisdiction and the misdemeanour courts. It ought to be said that the multi-sectoral approach helps find adequate solutions to specific cases more easily“, Ćorović stated.
Joint UN Project Coordinator Maja Branković-Đundić said that the partnership programme was being implemented by the Ministry of Justice and the UN. She added that having the Domestic Violence Prevention Act was insufficient and that ensuring its implementation was also necessary. She explained that the entire purpose of the Act was to place the victims of domestic violence at the centre of all institutions’ and local partners’ focus.
The seminar in Bor was attended by representatives of health institutions, educational institutes, social welfare centres, police stations, public prosecutors’ offices and the local offices of the National Employment Bureau from Bor, Majdanpek, Kladovo and Negotin.
Last week, several seminars were held across the territory of the Leskovac Police Administration. These were attended by representatives of competent organs from Leskovac, Lebane, Medveđa, Crna Trava, Vlasotince and Bojnik, as well as from Prijepolje, Priboj and Nova Varoš Zlatibor for the Zlatibor region.