OSCE training strengthens criminal justice responses to violence against women and girls in Serbia

During the 16 Days of Activism campaign, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Serbian Justice and Interior Ministries delivered a training course helping police officers and prosecutors from several Serbian municipalities effectively respond to cases of violence against women and girls while maintaining a victim-centred approach.

“Being a victim of gender-based violence presents specific challenges. For instance, when you report an incidence of domestic violence to the police, you may be filing a claim against a person that you have lived with for many years, a person that you may be financially dependent on, a person you have children with. It is not easy to go to the authorities and ask them to arrest this person,” said Bjorn Tore Saltvik, project manager and OSCE Adviser on Police Development and Reform.“Joint training courses offer a valuable opportunity for both police officers and prosecutors to comprehend the importance of a victim-centered approach when dealing with gender-based violence cases,” said Miroslav Rakić, national trainer and Chief Prosecutor at the Basic Public Prosecution Office in Ruma.

The course – held from 27 November to 1 December in Vrnjačka Banja – was delivered by national police officers and prosecutors who had previously benefited from OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s train-the-trainers course in Warsaw, conducted in August 2022, as well as by other OSCE experts.

This training is the fifth in a series of OSCE training courses on gender-responsive policing of violence against women and girls, after the courses delivered in Albania, North Macedonia,  Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. They are organized in the framework of the OSCE project Enhancing Criminal Justice Capacities for Combating Gender-based Violence in South-Eastern Europe,  funded by Germany, Norway, Finland, Austria, France and Italy.

The project contributes to the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.