Police and Mother's Association tackle rise in domestic violence.Captain Milan Ilic is a senior police officer in the Serbian town of Zajecar. During his years on the force, he has
seen many changes in his home town. "Before the 1990s, life was very stable here; people had jobs. During the crisis years, many men were taken to fight in the army. They came back with big
psychological problems their jobs were gone and we saw a huge rise in domestic violence. These days, the economy is still bad and the police have to handle many fights between husbands and
wives."
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Captain Milan Ilic with Suzana Ilic (left), coordinator of the
project and Javorka Milosevic (right), President of the Udruzenje Majki (mother's association) NGO. |
Responding to increased violence in the home, a group of determined women in Zajecar formed the Udruzenje Majki or Mother's Association. They opened a 'safe house' for women and
children as well as a 24 hour 'SOS' telephone line. It soon became apparent however, that the police force itself was part of the problem. Ms Javorka Milosevic, President of the
Udruzenje Majki, explained, "the police had no formal training in domestic violence and there was no legislation covering this issue. Wives who were beaten by their husbands were told, 'You
chose your husband so it's your problem'". In April last year, Udruzenje Majki took the controversial decision to seek a meeting with the police in Zajecar to tackle this attitude. "We were
very happy to meet with Udruzenje Majki," explains Captain Ilic. "As police, we did not know how to deal with the problem of domestic violence as we just didn't understand it.
Udruzenje
Majki came up with good ideas which we could use and so we developed a close cooperation. We meet every month to discuss incidents and they often refer cases to us." A crucial part of the
help Udruzenje Majki offered was a training program for police officers. Ms Milosevic found a professional trainer in Northern Serbia and brought her south for a series of events and
round tables with the Zajecar police. The police began to hear about the experiences of women who were victims of domestic violence, the physical and psychological abuse they suffered, how
they felt unable to report incidents being afraid of what their neighbors would say. Problems of alcoholism, poverty and a strong patriarchal culture, which women should not challenge, all
contribute to the problem. Captain Ilic now operates with new legislation which allows him to press charges against violent husbands. He has a new perspective on the problem and works
with Udruzenje Majki in identifying cases at an early stage. "Attacks against women are not decreasing," he says, "but they are more visible and thanks to Udruzenje Majki, women don't feel
afraid to ask for help." Equally important is that the police in Zajecar feel able to ask for help from the Udruzenje Majki! UMCOR supported the Udruzenje Majki project to create a 'Safe
House for Women and Child Victims of Violence' as part of the process of building civil society. It was a three month project which included preparatory activities for the opening of the
safe house. It consisted of activities focused on sensitisation of the local community (media campaign, distribution of brochures, etc.), educational activities for professionals from the
relevant institutions such as police, court, centers for social work, local government, medical workers etc. and training for female activists from various NGOs and associations from the
region, as well as the operation of the SOS telephone service. Updated August 2003 |
