Last week, the senior commander I.R. (Age 39) prevented a man from killing his wife, R.T. (49). This took place at the Pančevo Fair, right in front of numerous passers-by who, according to the media, observed the event passively.
Non-intervention by the citizens is disturbing, but the lack of involvement of institutions is unacceptable. Just one day after the femicide attempt in Pančevo, in Stojnik near Sopot, J.J. was murdered by her former partner D.N. (51), although she previously addressed the relevant institutions for protection and assistance. Her complaint, according to the killer’s brother, was dismissed as "fake".
If the allegations from the media are correct, why hadn’t the competent police officers, after having received the plea, taken away the abuser’s weapons (when the law clearly obliges them to do so)? Had the risk of violence against this woman been estimated and what measures had been taken against this? Why was this woman's plea rejected as a fake? We are looking for a review of the conduct of police officers in the case of receiving a report of violence against the late J.J.!
In the cases mentioned, neither the institutions, nor any media, nor the citizens believed the women who were survivors of violence. This is supported by the fact that in the media articles, the victim is presented as a jealous, alcohol dependent, negligent mother and a person who "liked to drink, of foul temper, rude and belligerent". On the other hand, the killer is described as a respectable hunter, a successful caterer, a man with a spotless record, a family man, a man "about whom no one had ever heard a bad word, who liked to hang out and joke". Disproportion in the representation of the victim and the perpetrator is aimed at releasing the perpetrator from responsibility and discrediting the victim, which leads to the normalization of male violence against women. A woman is never guilty for the violence she survived, the only one responsible is the abuser!
On behalf of the Women against Violence Network
Aleksandra Nestorov and Vedrana Lacmanović