Contributed by: Irena Milatovic and Vanja Mikulic, Montenegro National VAW Monitors

The Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro organized, in cooperation with the UNHCR Sub-Office in Podgorica, the Conference entitled "Prevention of Gender Based Violence" in December 2005. The conference gathered participants from Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro who were representatives of relevant state institutions, international organizations and NGOs.

After two days of work, the participants concluded the following:

• Participants of the conference stated that after the amendment of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Montenegro by which Article 220, which regulates domestic violence was introduced, significant changes have been noticed, which are also the result of realized programs of education of the Security Centers' employers. However, since the education was not complete and did not include all police officers, it is necessary to:
  • Envisage educational programs for all employers in Security Centers that will be integrated in the training within the project “Police officer in the community;”
  • Develop the Protocol on police acting in cases of domestic violence; 
  • Form special teams within Security Centers who are previously educated and specialized for the domestic violence field, and especially to include women police officers in the teams for intervention;
  • Educate the population on the social dangers of domestic violence;
  • Create and implement a special education program for children aiming at recognizing violence; 
  • Develop special educational programs on domestic violence for all schoolchildren, as well as for teachers;
  • Develop a protection program for children who are in the zone of the illegal economy; 
  • Strengthen cooperation between judicial, executive and legal powers, prosecutors, security centers, centers for social work, NGOs, lawyers and all other public services; 
  • Insist on the effective realization of the project of forming multidisciplinary teams and crisis centers, in order to provide effective protection for the victim; 
  • Lobby for the specialization of judges and persecutors who will deal with domestic violence; 
  • Sharpen the punishment policy in this area; 
  • Include refugees and displaced persons within the system of protection from domestic violence; 
  • Make a clear distinction between criminal and offensive responsibilities in this area, which means compliance with Criminal Law, the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, Family Law and other regulations that deal with this problem; 
  • Provide economic support to the victims.

The participants of the conference consider that the Government of the Republic of Montenegro must undertake measures for the complete implementation of the adopted National Program on Violence Prevention.

The conclusions from the conference have been sent to all relevant institutions and media.

Source: Gender Equality Office of the Government of Montenegro