The Autonomous Women's Center and the Network of Women against Violence decidedly object to yesterday's ruling where a repeat rapist was handed down a very mild sentence, in a first degree court, and was put under house arrest until his sentence becomes legally binding.

In recent days citizens and the media alike have shown great interest in a photograph published by a public figure on her Facebook profile – the photo having been taken after she was physically attacked by her husband. We believe that certain comments made in the public discussion surrounding this issue are detrimental to understanding male violence against women, that is, they result in women reliving violence – this time perpetuated by the public.

The Network of Women against Violence has requested that the State Public Prosecutor review the work of Novi Sad's Higher Public Prosecutor in the case where Darijan Music was accused and subsequently found guilty of murdering Vladislava Cervenko, and to report to the public about their findings.

The Network of Women against Violence demands that relevant state bodies review their responsibility and adequately sanction professionals in institutional who have not adequately responded to reports of male violence against women. This review should be taken very seriously considering that their work related omissions resulted in women being murdered.

stop-femiciduAround 30 activists of Women in Black and the Network of Women against Violence assembled on December 6th 2014 on the street in silence and dressed in black in a sign of remembrance of the women murdered and raped in wars and domestic violence across the world.

A talk show host on the Prva srpska televizija (First Serbian TV Station), Ivan Ivanović, mocked victims of rapes committed during and in relation to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in his show broadcast on November 30th, 2014, thus seriously offending thousands of rape victims in BiH.

ulicna-akcija sThe goal of the street action was to raise public consciousness on the problem of male violence against women, to include citizens in confronting this problem, and send a message of support to women who are surviving violence. On this occasion we also signed a flag of solidarity with women who survived violence.

reagujte-protestAround 50 people gathered today in front of the Ministry of Justice to protest the sentence handed down to the murderer of Stela Gundelj. The protesters demanded that the perpetrator be punished with the maximum penalty for murder – 40 years – instead of the 15 years he received.

fagThe feminist and anti-fascist guerrilla and activists of the Women against Violence Network will join the protest scheduled for tomorrow by the Gundelj family. The protest will be held on Thursday, October  9th, 2014, at 11:00 am, in front of the Ministry of Justice in Belgrade (Nemanjina Street 22-26).

parada ponosa bgd 2014Activists of the Women against Violence Network participated in the third Pride Parade on September 28th, in Belgrade. For security reasons the parade, numbering around a 1000 people, was surrounded by police instead of ordinary citizens.