WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Campaign

26 November 2007

The Montenegro Women Lobby from Podgorica announced its activities for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. MWL will concentrate on the problem of incomplete application of legislation for sanctioning of perpetrators of violence against women and children by judicial authorities.

- We don`t dispute the logic taht *sufficient proof is needed*, but we have to ask if it means that a life exposed to violence can`t be proved without proper certificate for every single insult and bruise, says the Women Lobby.

In their view, past experiences show that the judiciary is far more likely to trust the statements of the man-the perpetrator, than the women-the victim of violence.

The suspicions in the statements of the victims, the humiliation, the questioning of their *moral attitudes* are well-established strategies by certain individuals of the judicial system, resulting ultimately in a situation in which violence is not reported, because of the mistrust and the prolonged judicial procedures.

MWL also noted the alleged failure of the last year�s action for removal from office of the head of the Gender Equality Committee Beba Djakovic. According to the Women Lobby, the action was a qualified success, in spite of the fact that Djakovic kept her office.

The success consists, primarily, in the positive response that Women Lobby`s activists had from the citizens during the collection of signatores for their petition to remove Djakovic.

The very existence of 4,500 signatures on the petition shows, says MWL, that it was the authorities that failed to act on the express will of the citizens who signed the petition.