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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MONTENEGRO

- THEORY AND PRACTICE -

(MONITORING STUDY)

Project “Protection from gender based violence as a precondition for edvelopemnt of democracy and the rule of law” nanced by European Union in the framework of the program “European instrument for democracy and human rights (EIDHR) 2014”

Preparation of the Study is supported by the European Commission through the EU Delegation to Montenegro. The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Union.

Publisher:SOS telephone for women and children

victims of violence Podgoricatel/fax: +382 020 232 254; 020 232 253

e-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: sospodgoricaTwitter: @sospodgorica

Editors: Biljana Zeković

Jelena RadulovićMartina Vučelić

Consultants:Vanja Rakočević

Aleksandra GligorovićĐorđije Blažić

Slavko Milić

Reserchers:Martina VučelićIvana SmolovićVesna Pupović

Bojana MitrovićNikolina Boljević

Design & Prepress:IMPULS studio

Published:Podgorica, 2017.

5DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MONTENEGRO – THEORY AND PRACTICE (Monitoring Study)

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 9

1.1 About the Study ..................................................................................................... 9

1.2 Gender-Based Violence ......................................................................................... 10

1.3 Socio-cultural concept in Montenegro ................................................................... 11

2. INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK .............................. 13

2.1 United Nations .................................................................................................... 13

2.2 The Council of Europe ........................................................................................... 15

2.2.1 The Istanbul Convention .............................................................................................................. 15

2.2.2 The European Court of Human Rights .......................................................................................... 17

2.3 The European Union ............................................................................................. 17

2.3.1 Treaties ........................................................................................................................................ 18

2.3.2 Legal actions ............................................................................................................................... 18

2.3.3 The European Parliament ............................................................................................................ 19

2.3.4 The European Council .................................................................................................................. 20

2.3.5 The Council of the European Union .............................................................................................. 20

2.3.6 The European Commission ........................................................................................................... 20

2.3.7 The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights ....................................................................................... 21

2.3.8 The European Institute for Gender Equality ................................................................................. 21

2.3.9 “Daphne” and “Rights, Equality and Citizenship 2014-2020” ....................................................... 22

2.3.10 EU Member States ....................................................................................................................... 22

3. INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS OF MONTENEGRO .................................... 23

3.1 The level of the United Nations ............................................................................. 23

3.2 The level of the European Union and the Council of Europe ..................................... 25

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................... 26

CONTENT

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4. NATIONAL STRATEGIC AND POLICY FRAMEWORK ..................................... 29

4.1 National strategies and action plans ..................................................................... 29

4.1.1 Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence ................................................................................ 29

4.1.2 Action plan for achieving gender equality ......................................................................................... 37

4.1.3 Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro ........................................... 45

4.1.4 National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Montenegro ....................................................... 47


5. LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF MONTENEGRO .................................................... 51

5.1 The Constitutional Legal Framework of Montenegro .............................................. 51

5.2 Legislative framework related to domestic violence .............................................. 52

6. CRIMINAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ................................... 53

6.1 Legal aspects of the criminal offense of domestic violence or violence in domestic partnership (family community) (Criminal Code) .................................................... 53

6.1.1 Criminal offense .......................................................................................................................... 53

6.1.2 Security measures and protection measures ............................................................................... 56

6.2 Criminal procedural aspects of domestic violence .................................................. 58

6.2.1 Surveillance measures over the defendant .................................................................................. 58

6.2.2 Imposing, enforcement and inspection of surveillance measures ................................................ 60

6.3 Review of the proposed amendment of the Criminal Code of Montenegro ............... 60


7. ADMINISTRATIVE LEGAL ASPECTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Law on Protection against Domestic Violence) .................................... 67

7.1 Material Legal Aspects of Domestic Violence .......................................................... 67

7.1.1 The concept of violence and members of the family .................................................................... 67

7.1.2 The right to assistance and protection, and the responsible institutions ..................................... 68

7.1.3 Protection of the victim ............................................................................................................... 72

7.1.3.1 Forms of violence and ways of providing assistance and protection .............................. 72

7.1.3.2 Protection measures (orders of protection) ................................................................... 73


7.2 Process Legal Aspects of Domestic Violence ........................................................... 78

7.2.1 The process of providing assistance and protection measures ..................................................... 78 7.2.2 Procedure for determining protection measures ......................................................................... 81 7.2.3 Administrative - legal protection measures ................................................................................. 83

7.3 Misdemeanor Legal aspects of the protection of domestic violence ......................... 85

7.3.1 The concept, principles and purpose of the offense ..................................................................... 857.3.2 Misdemeanor legal protection measures ..................................................................................... 85 7.3.3 Legal protection of the offender .................................................................................................. 86 7.3.4 Extension, termination and replacement of protection measures issued before and during the proceedings ......................................................................................................... 86 7.3.5 Obligingness of acting according to protection measure ............................................................. 86 7.3.6 Execution of a court decision on protection measures ................................................................. 87 7.3.7 Delivering judicial verdicts and the register ................................................................................. 89 7.3.8 Misdemeanor sanctions .............................................................................................................. 90


8. CASE STUDIES .................................................................................... 95

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 109

9 DATA ANALYSIS (2014-2016) .............................................................. 113

9.1 Secondary data analysis at national level – Police Directorate .............................. 113

9.1.1 Criminal offense of domestic violence or violence in domestic partnership (family community) .................................................................................................................. 1149.1.2 Misdemeanor from the Law on Domestic violence .................................................................... 115

9.2 State Prosecution .............................................................................................. 118

9.3 Basic Courts ....................................................................................................... 120

9.4 Misdemeanor Courts .......................................................................................... 121

9.5 Higher Misdemeanor Court of Montenegro .......................................................... 125

9.6 Centers for Social Work ....................................................................................... 126

9.7 Healthcare institutions ...................................................................................... 127

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 128


1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 AbOUT ThE sTUDy

Even today, numerous studies indicate that violence against women is a widespread problem. That is why, in spite of everything that has been done so far, it is necessary to do even more to protect women from violence. One of the problems lies in the fact that many cases of violence remain unreported. On the other hand, there are major differ-ences in national legislation on violence against women in the Council of Europe mem-ber states. For this reason, in the EU more attention is paid to data collection and moni-toring. On the other hand, there are great differences in national legislation on violence against women within the members of the Council of Europe. That is why it is important to develop comparative analyzes that would point out how the issue of violence against women is legally regulated in EU countries and defines the weaknesses or the strong side of particular solutions.

At the same time, research of this kind is also of great importance for all countries in the process of joining the European Union because public authorities that adhere to the principles defined in international and EU documents and monitor compliance with these principles can significantly improve their ability to organize and provide high quality services based on the rights and needs of citizens and citizens.

The study before you provide an overview of international legal standards relevant to the area of violence against women and domestic violence as well as the obligations of the signatory states in their implementation. At the same time, a review of nation-al legislation, policies and practice provides a clear picture of the current situation in Montenegro, as well as the degree of consistency with international and EU standards, requirements and good practices.

At the same time, by analyzing the situation for the purpose of this study, it is intended to determine to what extent in Montenegro the adoption and application of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, in addition to existing laws and regulations (Crim-inal Code, Family Law, policies that regulates social and child protection), achieved the standard of due diligence that the Istanbul Convention places before the signatory state.

Analyzing data on what the institutions are doing in the field of protection of victims of violence and sanctioning of perpetrators as well as recognizing the failure of the institu-tions to apply the existing legislation, we point to the consistency and inadequacies of the application of existing legislation in relation to domestic violence and inter-relation-ship relations. This will show whether there is determination and seriousness of the sig-natory state to respect the standards of full commitment to the prevention, protection, prosecution and sanctioning of all forms of domestic violence.

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The work of institutions dealing with the protection of victims and the sanction of per-petrators will be evaluated by analyzing the services, measures and interventions they undertake in order to protect the victim and punish the perpetrator. Realization of pre-scribed standards in practice will be evaluated by analyzing the available data on the distribution and types of violence, the functioning of institutions in practice, the way of action, the relationship of reported cases, investigations initiated, cases processed and types of verdicts issued.

In line with the key findings of the study, a set of recommendations for irrefutable in-terventions in the area of protection of women from domestic violence and violence is given, which the Government is obliged to ensure in accordance with international standards and domestic legislation.

1.2 GENDER bAsED vIOlENCE Gender-Based Violence is defined as “violence directed against a person because of that person’s gender (including gender identity) or violence that disproportionately affects women.”1 Women and girls of different ages and backgrounds are most affected by gen-der-based violence. Gender-Based Violence can be physical, sexual and / or psycholog-ical, and includes:

violence in the relationship; sexual assault (including rape, sexual assault, harassment or persecution); slavery; Bad practices, such as forced marriages, and so-called “ “Crimes of honor”; Cyber violence and disturbance by using new technologies.

Violence against women is a form of gender-based violence that only affects women because it is directly related to the unequal division of power that maintains devalua-tion and subordination of women, but also violates fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a worldwide phenomenon with roots in economic inequalities and inequalities in power between genders, customs, traditions, religious values, political instability and war conflicts. It has serious consequences on the physical and mental health of victims, but also on society as a whole.

According to one of the most comprehensive definition at the European level, violence against women means „all acts of gender‐based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, in-cluding threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occur-ring in public or in private life”.2 Both terminology is used in the study, because violence against women is certainly gender-based.

1 The Council of Europe (2011), the Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, Article 3

2 Ibid


Over the last two decades, violence against women has been observed in the context of violations of women’s human rights such as: the right to life, security, dignity, physical and moral integrity, but also as a form of gender-based discrimination3. Violence deny women the right to basic freedoms and represents a serious obstacle to equality be-tween women and men.

1.3 sOCIO-CUlTURAl CONCEpT IN MONTENEGRO

The Montenegrin society is predominantly patriarchal, with a culture that highlights domination and power. Stereotypes about gender roles, the patriarchal model of the re-lationship between the sexes, the economic and social crisis, poverty, the participation of a large number of men in recent conflicts in the region, create a suitable climate for domestic violence against women and children. Unemployment, the intense growth of abuse of psychoactive substances, alcohol and the lack of perspectives of young people lead to an increase in adult children’s violence towards their parents; or children in the mature age towards the old, helpless parents. Insufficient readiness of institutions to work on violence prevention, providing victim support, and sanctioning of bullies also contributes to an increase in the scale of violence.

In the Montenegrin culture there are numerous stereotypes about the position of wom-en, relationships between partners and domestic violence. Although they are largely based on prejudices, it is difficult to eradicate them. One of the common myths that contribute to the invisibility of domestic violence is understanding that this is a private matter - “Dirty laundry shoul dnot be taken out of the house.” Even some abused women believe they are guilty of the violence that is happening to them. The belief that a good husband should suffer and listen to a man contributes to a high appreciation of female suffering for the sake of preserving family together. It is often said, “she is a man-woman (in Montenegrin language: „čovjek-žena“), how much she has suffered.” It is believed that violence only occurs to the poor, uneducated, and that the bullies are mainly alcoholics or mentally ill persons.

Learned to accept the violent behavior of men as a life concept, women often do not recognize violence and do not oppose. Polar socialization is powerful. The society ex-pects from women to be patient, obedient, reconcilable and submissive. By not respect-ing the expected behavior patterns, they risk being blamed for the betrayal of female gender and feminine nature. The patriarchal education gained in the primary family contributes to the identification of gender with sex roles. Domestic violence is particu-larly difficult to recognize by women who have grown up next to the violent father, and they are ready to tolerate it for a long time.

3 More at CEDAW: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm

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Often, they choose their husbands according to that known model. Violence is a com-mon, accepted behavior for men. In addition, it is very often to hear the mother’s mes-sage: “suffer, because I also have suffered,” or “the woman is created to suffer” and so on.4.

Women most often do not speak of violence and suffer violence because of caring for children, lack of awareness of the rights and the possibilities of protection, because of the isolation and control mechanisms applied by the violator, because of the feelings of guilt imposed by the patriarchal environment, material dependencies, feelings of shame, lack of confidence, lack of support etc. Myths and beliefs, which are present in the Montenegrin society, contribute to minimizing the problems of domestic violence, transferring responsibility to an abused woman and minimizing community responsi-bility. Blaming external factors justify the violent behavior of men and women creates a false belief in the necessity and impossibility of change.

4 Radulović, J.; Ljaljević, A. (2009). Gender Equality and Women’s Health in Montenegro. Podgorica: University of Montenegro, Faculty of Philosophy - Niksic.


The best way to present international law in the field of violence against women is by presenting the obligations of the state on three levels: the level of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union. All countries that are members of the UN and the Council of Europe, with its membership are bind to undertake and apply norms relating to women’s rights and the elimination of discrimination and violence against women stemming from signed or ratified documents.

2.1 ThE UNITED NATIONs

At the level of international organization of the United Nations (UN), key actors are: The UN Women, The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against women - CEDAW, The Commission on the Status of Women and The United Nations Popula-tion Fund - UNFPA. Besides, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has also been an important actor since it has been involved in the monitoring of, providing information and programmes on (the health aspects) of violence against women.

United Nations documents are crucial for recognizing violence against women as a vi-olation of human rights under international law and can be of various forms that range from binding to legally non-binding.

The UN General Assembly in 1979 adopted a legally binding instrument relating to women’s rights - The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).5 Although the document does not refer directly to violence against women, it is an important instrument which requires States to ensure that men and women have the right to full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and is con-sidered “the international charter of women’s rights”.

In order to strengthen the Convention, particularly in the area of violence against wom-en, in 1989 the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued the General Recommendation No. 12 on violence against women6, stating that sig-natory states act with the aim to protect women against violence of any kind occurring in the family, the workplace, or in any other area of social life. Already in 1992, the Gen-eral Recommendation No. 19 violence against women7 has been adopted and states

5 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) See more at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw.htm

6 COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN. See more at: http://bit.ly/13McfX6

7 Ibid.

2. INTERNATIONAl pOlICy AND lEGAl FRAMEWORK

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that the definition of discrimination includes gender based violence that is directly di-rected against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportion-ately and requires that States Parties adopt specific legislation on violence within the family, including criminal sanctions.

The United Nations World Conference on Human Rights, held in 1993 in Vienna and Vi-enna Declaration and Programme of Action8 presented the gender based violence as a structural and universal. The Declaration also sought the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on violence against women so in 1994 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on violence against women with the adoption of The Resolution 1994/45.9 The Special Rapporteur’s mandate al-lows the Rapporteur, among others, to seek and receive information on violence against women, to make recommendations on local, national and international level to combat violence against women.

The Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence against Women – DEVAW10 is the first international instrument that refers exclusively to violence against women which is widely defined with the recognition that it can happen in the family (Article 3).

In September 1995, organized by the United Nations, the fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was held and brought together delegations from 189 states with the aim to present its reports on the implementation of the Strategy for the Advancement of Women by 2000, and to agree and accept the text of the document Platform for Action. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - BPFA contains a set of 12 strategic goals for the empowerment of women. The fourth one includes the issue of elimination of all forms of violence against women and planned actions, i.e. the practical measures that should be taken by states, international and non-governmental organizations to prevent and suppress the violence against women.11

The 2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)12 also includes a reference to violence against women. The Agenda for sustainable development by 2030 contains 17 objectives of sustainable development, also called Global goals, and build on the Millen-nium Development Goals (MDGs). One of 17 goals, goal no. 5, refers to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women; the elimination of all forms of violence against women, including human trafficking and all forms of (sexual) exploitation; the elimination of harmful practices for women and girls such as child, early and forced mar-riage and female genital mutilation (FGM).

8 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. See more at: http://bit.ly/1d6qX9P

9 Work of the Human Rights Council (2006 – present) and the Commission on Human Rights (until 2006) See more at: http://bit.ly/2zvDVyU

10 See more at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm.

11 International regulations. See more at: http://bit.ly/2DPvH8d

12 Sustainable development: Goal 5. See more at: http://bit.ly/1m9BImf


2.1 ThE COUNCIl OF EUROpE

Beside the European Convention on Human Rights, an international treaty on protec-tion of human rights and freedoms in Europe, the most important CoE instruments for combating violence against women are:

The Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence-Istanbul Convention13,

The Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings14 and The Recommendation Rec(2002)5 on the protection of violence against

women15.

All together, they provide a comprehensive framework to prevent violence, protect vic-tims, and to end impunity for perpetrators.

The Recommendation Rec (2002)5 on the protection of women against violence is adopted in 2002. In this Recommendation, the Committee of Ministers called upon the Member States to ensure the human rights of women. Despite its non-binding charac-ter, this Recommendation offers a common framework for the CoE member states.

In May 2005, in the Warsaw Declaration, the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe reaffirmed their commitment to combat violence against women in all its forms, including domestic violence.

Also, the Council of Europe has been very active in the field of trafficking in human be-ings. Besides Istanbul Convention, two more conventions have been adopted on the topic: The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005) and The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual abuse (2007).

2.2.1 THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION

The Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Do-mestic Violence - CAHVIO16 was formed as a response to the need for a new legal in-strument and in December 2010, presented the final draft of the Convention on pre-venting and combating violence against women and domestic violence and the Convention was adopted in 7 April 2011 by the Committee of Ministers in Istanbul. The Convention was opened for signing on 11 May 2011. In addition to being the first Eu-ropean convention on violence against women including domestic violence, which is

13 Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. See more at: http://bit.ly/2C59X7W

14 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. See more at: http://bit.ly/2C4Jh7p

15 Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence. See more at: http://bit.ly/2BDoruY

16 Ad hoc Committee on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO). See more at: http://bit.ly/2Dct1R2

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legally binding, it does not focus only on the State Members of the Council of Europe, which means that any country wishing to accede to the Convention, it can (non-mem-ber states that have participated in its elaboration and other non-member States can access it under the conditions laid down in Article 76). The European Union is also men-tioned among the possible signatories of the Istanbul Convention and in March 2016, the European Commission urged the EU to sign the Istanbul Convention.

On 12 March 2012, Turkey became the first country to ratify the Convention, and af-ter ten Member States of the CoE has ratified it, it entered into force on 1 August 2014. Up to 20 February 2016, the Convention was signed by 44 countries, but only 22 have ratified it and started its implementation.17

The Istanbul Convention is considered as the most important and comprehensive legal-ly binding instrument in Europe on violence against women, including violence in fam-ily. Its adoption and entry into force is one of the greatest achievements of the Council of Europe in the fight against violence against women.

Important topics of the Convention include the prevention, protection, integrated policies, basic laws and monitoring.18 Additional topics are: gender perspective, mi-grants, asylum seekers, refugees, NGOs and children.

The Istanbul Convention applies to all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence. However, special attention was paid to the following types of vio-lence against women:

psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, sexual violence, including rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion and forced sterilization, sexual harassment or any kind of aiding, abetting or attempting violence against women.

At the end, it is important to ensure that states fulfil their obligations, which means that once the Convention enters into force, the level of its implementation is measured. Is-tanbul Convention has two-pillar monitoring mechanism:

an independent expert body, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and

a political body, the Committee of the Parties, which is composed of representatives of the Parties to the Istanbul Convention.

17 List of signatories of Istanbul Convention, CoE website: http://bit.ly/22Og8lN

18 Istanbul Convention in brief. See more at: http://bit.ly/2ACKJgi


The task of GREVIO is to monitor the implementation of the Convention by the Par-ties. The States Parties submit reports on the legislative and other measures to ensure implementation of the provisions of this Convention, to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The report is prepared on the basis of a Questionnaire prepared by this expert group. The questionnaire contains detailed questions regarding all aspects contained in chapters II - VII of the Istanbul Convention.19

On the other hand, the Istanbul Convention provides for two types of monitoring pro-cedures:

Country-by-country evaluation procedure and Special inquiry procedure.

2.2.2 THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

The European Court of Human Rights - ECtHR as the judicial institution based in Stras-bourg, where all citizens who are from CoE Member States which are signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights and who believe that their rights have been violated by this Convention, can turn for a help, achieved remarkable success in prac-tice. Judgments brought by the European Court are aimed to limit discrimination in the Member States of the Council of Europe.20 Different forms of violence and discrimina-tion against women were examined in Strasbourg and new standards are achieved with increased demands to establish compatibility between the Convention and differential treatment based solely on the grounds of sex.

2.3 ThE EUROpEAN UNION EU implements following activities aimed at preventing and combating violence against women:

protects women and children from gender based violence through legislation and practical measures through ensuring the rights of victims (Treatment with respect and recognition as victims, protection from intimidation, retaliation and further victimization during criminal investigations; support, access to justice, and appropriate access to compensation),

co-funs campaigns to raise public awareness about this issue implemented by the national governments, supports transnational projects run by non-governmental organizations combating violence against women, children and youth,

facilities finding common solutions among EU countries by organizing exchanges of good practice,

works to eliminate female genital mutilation,

19 Questionnaire on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) is available at the following link: https://rm.coe.int/16805c95b0

20 List of relevant judgments is available at: http://bit.ly/2DeFG69

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develops knowledge about the phenomenon of gender based violence, collects data on gender based violence.

2.3.1 THE TREATIES

The topic of violence against women made its first meaningful appearance on the EU agenda in the mid-90s, when the adoption of the Treaty of Maastricht21 and the Trea-ty of Amsterdam22 strengthened the EU institutions and placed a greater emphasis on fundamental rights and created a new political space for issues such as violence against women. The Lisbon Treaty23 which entered into force in December 2009, has widened the jurisdiction of EU for harmonization of criminal law. This treaty gives space to EU to introduce common provisions in the field of criminal law with the aim of its harmoniza-tion. Also, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)24, as very im-portant legal document that provides possibilities for development of legal instruments to combat violence against women. Moreover, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, declared in 2000, since 2009 is legally binding for EU institutions and national governments and, among other things, contains specific provisions aimed at protecting and upholding the right to physical and mental integrity, non-discrimination on the ba-sis of gender, and human trafficking.25

2.3.2 LEGAL ACTIONS

One of the important legal instruments in the field of violence against women is Direc-tive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combatting trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims26 that targets specifically violence against women in connection with trafficking in human beings. In the same sense, Directive 2004/81/EC on the res-idence permit27 issued to third-country nationals who are victims of human traffick-ing. A more general legal instrument is Directive 2012/29/EU (The Victims’ Directive)28 on common minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims that obliges Member States to support the victim and/or their family members.

Furthermore, Directive 2011/99/EU on the European Protection Order (EPO)29 also provides protection for victims of violence against women. In addition to this directive, there is Regulation (EU) No 606/2013 on mutual recognition of protection mea-

21 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:xy0026

22 See more at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/hr/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_1.1.3.html

23 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12007L/TXT

24 See more at: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/legal/1341/1342/html/index.en.html

25 See more at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/aboutparliament/hr/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_1.1.6.html

26 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011L0036

27 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:l33187

28 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32012L0029

29 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/HR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011L0099


sures in civil matters30. Protection can be given in cases where there is a threat to the physical, psychological or sexual integrity of a person, and gender based violence and violence in close relationships such as physical and sexual violence, harassment and stalking are named as examples for protection measures.

Two more EU directives are relevant to regulate the issue of violence against women: Di-rective 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation31 and Directive 2004/113/EC on implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services32. Both provide for a definition of and condemn harassment and sexual harassment.

Finally, Directive 2010/41/EU on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity33 should be mentioned because it allows women to have a stronger economic position which will make them less dependent from violent relationships, which is especially beneficial in cases of violence against women.

2.3.3 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The European Parliament, through the work of its Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, actively contributes to the prevention of violence against women.

The Resolution on elimination of violence against women34 of 26 November 2009 called upon the Commission to propose a Directive on action to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women. The Parliament called upon the Member States:

to collect statistics about cases of violence against women, to raise more awareness about violence against women, to financially support organisations supporting victims and to recognize in national criminal law sexual violence and rape within the marriage

or partnership as a crime. In the Resolution of 5 April 2011 on priorities and outline of a new EU policy frame-work to fight violence against women35, the Parliament proposed to create a new and comprehensive policy approach towards gender based violence. The Parliament stated that prostitution was a form of gender based violence.

30 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/HR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32013R0606

31 See more at: https://osha.europa.eu/en/legislation/directives/council-directive-2006-54-ec.

32 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004L0113.

33 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/HR/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32010L0041&from=EN.

34 See more at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2009-0098+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN.

35 European Parliament Resolution of 5 April 2011 on priorities and outline of a new EU policy framework to fight violence against women (2010/2209(INI)). See more at: http://bit.ly/2BYvhz6

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2.3.4 THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL

In 2009, the European Council adopted the Stockholm programme for the period of 2010-2014. This 5-year strategic plan36 addressed, among others, the need to pro-tect victims of gender based violence (special protection should be given to vulnerable groups such as women and children victims of violence. Also, prevention and combat-ting of trafficking in human beings is important).

2.3.5 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

In 2008, the Council adopted EU guidelines on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them37. The guidelines have 3 aims:

to prevent violence; to protect and support victims; to prosecute those who commit such violence.

In March 2010, the Council adopted the first Council conclusions on the eradication of violence against women38 and called upon the Member States to develop strategies against violence and to spend sufficient resources for preventing and combating vio-lence, including awareness raising campaigns.

In December 2012, the Council adopted Conclusions on Violence against Women and the Provision of Support Services to Victims of Domestic Violence39 where Commis-sion is asked again to propose an EU Strategy against violence against women, and asked the Parliament and the Commission to contribute to the signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

In 2014, the Council Conclusions on preventing and combating all forms of vio-lence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation40 were adopted, which, among others, includes new form of violence such as cyber bullying.

2.3.6 THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

The European Commission, as an executive body of the EU, has been quite active in the field of violence against women. Gender based violence and its prevention are covered with two strategies: Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-201041 and the Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-201542. After that, in

36 See more at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:jl0034

37 See more at: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/16173cor.en08.pdf

38 See more at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/113226.pdf

39 See more at: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/134081.pdf

40 Council conclusions - “Preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and girls, including female genital mutilation”. See more at: http://bit.ly/2CfH1KN

41 Roadmap for equality between women and men (2006-2010). See more at: http://bit.ly/2li5Sp5

42 Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015. See more at: http://bit.ly/PIcTOT


December 2015, the Commission published a staff working document on the strate-gic engagement for gender equality 2016-201943 that replaced the previously stated strategy, and no matter that this staff working document does not have the same legal status, it proposes a number of key actions for combating gender based violence and providing support to victims.

In 2010 a Women’s Charter44 is adopted with the aim to strengthen the Commission’s commitments to gender equality. This Charter states that gender based violence is a violation of fundamental rights. Besides this, the Commission took actions in regard to specific types of violence such as female genital mutilation and trafficking in human be-ings and adopted the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016.45

The issue of violence against women has also been included in the Commission’s exter-nal action policies: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-202046. This document is very important in terms of human rights vio-lations in the third countries, such as child marriages and sexual violence. The Commis-sion also expresses that special attention should be given to refugee women who have become victim of gender based violence.

2.3.7 THE EU FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AGENCy

In March 2014, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)47 presented a survey “Violence against women: an EU-wide survey”48 based on 42.000 interviews with women about the experiences of gender based violence in all 28 EU State Members. Data show that violence against women is widespread in the EU, but beside this, the Report also notes that many cases remain unknown, and that the internet has also become a common used tool for cyber harassment, cyber stalking and cyber bullying. Based on the report, the FRA made a number of recommendations, these include amongst others: imple-mentation of the Victims’ Directive, ratifying the Istanbul Convention and the EU should try to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention.

2.3.8 THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR GENDER EQUALITy

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)49 has an important task to monitor and gather information about the number of cases of gender based violence. EIGE has

43 COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT, Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019. See more at: http://bit.ly/1U9dUyG

44 Women’s Charter. See more at: http://bit.ly/2Cd7hYt

45 The EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–2016. See more at: http://bit.ly/1U8hzGE

46 JOINT STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020See more at: http://bit.ly/28nOO3s

47 See more at: http://fra.europa.eu/en

48 Violence against women: an EU-wide survey. Main results report. See more at: http://bit.ly/23atuf9

49 See more at: http://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/mh0114718hrn.pdf

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published a number of studies on gender based violence. One of these studies50 is the report on the review on the implementation on the Beijing Platform for Action in which national policies and legislation against domestic violence were compared.

2.3.9 PROGRAMS “DAPHNE” AND “THE RIGHTS, EQUALITy AND CITIZENSHIP PROGRAMME 2014-2020”

Actions to prevent and combat violence against women have only been covered by the EU programmes at the end of the 1990s with the launch of the “Daphne initiative”, sub-sequently the Daphne Programmes, as an answer to a resolution of the EP on the need to establish an EU wide campaign for zero tolerance of violence against women. At the begging of 2000, the European Parliament and the EU Council adopted the first 3-year Daphne programme, renewed twice, in both 2004 and 2007. Its budget increased from the equivalent of EUR 20 million to almost 120 million for Daphne III. In 2007, the Daph-ne III programme became part of the General Programme of Fundamental Rights and Justice and then for the period 2014-2020 the Daphne programme has been in-corporated in the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme51. The main objective of this program is to further develop the EU area in which the equality and rights of the people are promoted, protected and applied the same. The budget provided for a peri-od of seven years amounts to 439 million euros.

2.3.10 EU MEMBER STATES

Regardless shared competences at the level of EU, EU Member States have sole compe-tence in fighting violence against women in general, including domestic violence. Most EU Member States have national action plans against violence against women, provide specialist services to victims of gender based violence, and its employees, including pol-icy officers and judges, receive training on how to deal with cases of violence against women. Also, there are shelters for women who have become victim of violence or are victims of human trafficking.

There are differences which are to be noticed: not all EU Member States recognise sexu-al violence within a marriage as a crime; usage of different legal definitions on different types of gender based violence; there are also differences in the criminalisation of dif-ferent types of gender based violence; the protective measures do also differ. Although the ratification of the Istanbul Convention might bring about closing gaps in national legislations and implementation measures, not all EU Member States have ratified the Istanbul Convention.

50 Report “Report on the review on the implementation on the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States: Violence against women, victim support”. See more at: http://bit.ly/2BYNXyH

51 See more at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/programmes-2014-2020/rec/index_en.htm


Immediately after the proclamation of independence of Montenegro in 2006, the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro has undertaken a series of activities aimed at iden-tifying ways of taking international multilateral conventions and protocols. Montenegro is a State Member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and other international organizations and regional initiatives. Montenegro is a signatory of many international legal documents that can be divided into two main groups, the legal acts of the United Nations and the European Union. Below we give a brief overview of international legal acts signed by Montenegro, which are of particular importance for the recognition of domestic violence as a violation of human rights under international law and as a form of discrimination against women, as well as recognition of the state’s responsibility for private acts of violence against women.

3.1 ThE lEvEl OF UNITED NATIONs

On 22 June 2006 Montenegro become 192nd member of the United Nation. At the same time, Montenegro initiated procedure, and by now, became a member of almost all UN agencies and specialized organizations within the UN system.

Membership in the United Nations starts the process of defining the list of treaties and conventions to which Montenegro acceded on the basis of succession deposited with the UN Secretary General. Instrument of accession to the conventions was depos-ited with the UN Secretary-General on 23 October 2006 related to different areas, as well as the contracting parties the most important international instruments on human rights.

By depositing a succession instrument, Montenegro became a signatory to the UN Con-vention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol. By signing the Convention, Montenegro has assumed the obligation to provide formal legal protection, and to harmonize legislation with the provisions of the Convention and to adopt legislation that will ensure the protection of women against all forms of discrimination and gender based violence. Montenegro has an obligation to ensure the legal protection of women against violence through affirmative action programs (access to court protection for women victims of domestic violence in a matter of urgency and without delay, health care, therapeutic support and counselling, training of police officers on domestic violence and providing support to victims during the intervention, establishment of SOS hotlines and shelters for victims of domestic violence).

3. INTERNATIONAl OblIGA-TIONs OF MONTENEGRO

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Also, under Article 18, the States Parties undertake to submit report on the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures they have adopted in order to implement the provisions of this Convention to the Secretary General of the United Nations, as well as improvements that have been made. When it comes to reporting of Montenegro52, Initial Report of the Government of Montenegro is adopted in February 2010 and for-warded to the Committee in May 2010.

The Report pointed to the legislative and other measures that Montenegro has taken in accordance with the Convention in the period from 2006 to 2009 in regard to the 16 substantive articles of the Convention. In this regard, within two years, the Committee requested information on the implementation of recommendations relating to violence against women, trafficking of human beings and exploitation of prostitution, and par-ticipation in social and political life.

With regard to the obligation to submit the Report to the CEDAW Committee by the end of 2013, the Committee for Gender Equality of the Parliament of Montenegro consid-ered the above mentioned Report, and agreed with its contents in December 2013. The representative of the CEDAW Committee has sent comments on the Report submitted in 2014, and she gave some additional recommendations concerning the above men-tioned areas. In the following period, the II Interim Report has been drafted. The process of drafting the report was coordinated by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, which has formed a working group53. II Interim Report was considered and adopted by the Government of Montenegro in October 2015 and it was forwarded to the CEDAW Committee (13 June 2016).54

What is important for Montenegro is the signing of the General Recommendation no. 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1992, which was adopted in order to strengthen the CEDAW, especially in the field of domestic violence, as well as the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women of 1993. As noted above, this Declaration is the first international instrument that refers exclusively to violence against women where violence against women is defined with the recognition that it can happen in the family.

52 More information on reporting of Montenegro to CEDAW Committee: http://bit.ly/2DfsTjA

53 The working group was consisted by following representatives: Committee for Gender Equality of the Parliament of Montenegro, competent ministries, Police, Montenegrin Supreme Court, the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ombudsperson for human rights and freedoms, the Office for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as independent expert on gender equality. Since there were no NGO representatives that wanted to take participation in the working group after the public call was opened, this report is forwarded to NGOs which answers were included in the II Interim Report.

54 Ministry for Human and Minority Rights (2015). II Interim Report on implementation of the CEDAW submitted according to Article 18 of the CEDAW.


3.2 ThE lEvEl OF ThE EUROpEAN UNION AND ThE COUNCIl OF EUROpE

Montenegro became a full member of the Council of Europe on 11 May 2007. Monte-negro actively cooperates with the Council of Europe (CoE) and with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the field of protection of human and minority rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as in promoting the rule of law and further democratization of society. A large number of Council of Europe conven-tions in the field of human rights are ratified, including the most important - the Euro-pean Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence - the Istanbul Convention. Of particular importance is the adoption of the Recommenda-tion Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of violence against women which provides very detailed guidance for policy making in order to protect victims and prevent violence (including women and children). In total, there are 92 conventions of the Council of Europe that are signed and ratified.55

In 11 May 2011, Montenegro signed the Istanbul Convention. In 1 March 2013, the Law on Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on combating and preventing violence against women and domestic violence has been adopted.56 Montenegro has its representative in Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) - Mrs. Vesna Ratkovic.57

GREVIO began the process of monitoring the implementation of the CoE Convention against violence towards women. After adopted a questionnaire containing detailed questions regarding all aspects contained in Chapters II - VII of this Convention, the Group of Experts made a preliminary timetable for the follow up period 2016/2017 and scheduled states by groups. Montenegro will, as one of eight states that will in certain periods, also as the first country in the region, take the steps58 in the process of GREVIO Reporting to Committee. GREVIO recognizes the important role that NGOs play in this area and clearly, in its Rules of Procedure, states that non-governmental organizations and other members of civil society are vital source of information and that all infor-mation provided by non-governmental organizations are treated as confidential by the GREVIO.

55 More information at the website of the Ministry of Interior: http://bit.ly/2BCkfeO or at the website of the Council of Europe: Treaty list for a specific State, available at: http://bit.ly/2C5EftT

56 The Law on Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, Official Gazette of Montenegro - International Treaties, no. 4 of 20 March 2013.

57 GREVIO members: list available at: http://bit.ly/2DP40fV

58 Steps in the first evaluation procedure of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention): https://rm.coe.int/168063dde7.

Steps are prepared in regard to Articles 68-70, Chapter IX of the Istanbul Convention.

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That is why NGOs are encouraged to make their contribution in the process of creating reports. According to information from the women NGO sector, currently in Montene-gro is being prepared a so-called Shadow report on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. The report is prepared by following NGOs: Centre for Women’s Rights, Shel-ter, SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Podgorica Nikšić, Centre for Women and Roma Initiatives and SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Podgorica.59

The Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence60 composed of 51 parlia-mentarians and established by the Council of Europe, as one of the main objectives of the Network sets promotion of the Istanbul Convention. The Head of the Network is Ms Sahiba Gafarova (Azerbaijan), political co-ordination, and until recently, representative of Montenegro in the Network was parliamentary Ms Snežana Jonica. This year’s list of members (2017) does not contain Montenegrin delegated representative.61

Montenegro also has representatives in a number of CoE committees, which meets in Strasbourg, such as the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH) and the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).

In 2010, Montenegro became an official candidate for membership in the European Union. In this context, Montenegro has a number of activities in cooperation with the European Commission, the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as bilateral activities with the Member States of the European Union. This also considers the harmonization of legislation on violence against women with the EU acquis.

Ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights, Montenegro has continued the process of its implementation at the national level, publishing publications of jurispru-dence of the European Court of Human Rights and delegating national judges and lawyers for the work in the Court.

Data from the Montenegro 2016 Progress Report62 indicates that the Court of Human Rights, since September 2015, ruled that Montenegro had violated the European Con-vention on Human Rights in 2 cases (prohibition of torture, the right to liberty and secu-rity and the right to a fair trial).

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMENDATIONS

Gender based violence is a brutal form of discrimination and violation of the fundamen-tal rights of victims that happens in every society and in every country. In the recent years numerous initiatives were launched to eradicate gender based violence at interna-tional and EU level, which made great impact on the defense of women’s fundamental

59 Source: NGO Centre for Women’s Rights.

60 See more about Network: http://website-pace.net/en_GB/web/apce/women-free-from-violence

61 Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence. List of members in 2017: http://bit.ly/2DcDoUW

62 European Commission (2016). Montenegro 2016 Progress Report. Available at: http://bit.ly/2tr6wXs


rights in cases of violence. Although Montenegro is not a member of the EU, its legisla-tion has a strong impact on national legislation and policies. Initiatives taken at EU level have resulted also in the improvement of public policies and legislative framework in Montenegro, which as a member of the Council of Europe is obliged to follow the moral and political and policy documents administered to these organizations in the respec-tive areas.

Montenegro is a signatory to many international legal acts which are important for the recognition of violence against women and domestic violence as a violation of human rights under international law and as a form of discrimination against women, as well as for recognition of the state’s responsibility for private acts of violence against women. A comparative analysis of international legal standards and obligations of the state in relation to violence against women and domestic violence, with certainty can show the existence of a strong foundation for the introduction of policies, procedures and prac-tices in line with international standards.

Montenegro’s legal system allows direct application of international standards and rati-fied conventions, but these very important international acts have not been concretized sufficiently in our legislation and practice, although it is mandatory by the Constitution of Montenegro, which states that “ratified international agreements and generally ac-cepted rules of international law have the supremacy over the national legislation and shall be directly applicable when they regulate the relations differently from the internal legislation”.

By signing international documents mentioned in the study, Montenegro is obliged to ensure:

a formal legal protection, more precisely to harmonize legislation with the provisions of the conventions and to adopt legislation that will ensure the protection of women against all forms of discrimination and gender based violence, and appropriate penalties for perpetrators of violence;

protection of violence against women through affirmative action; health care, therapeutic support and counselling, crisis centers, SOS hotlines and

shelters for victims of domestic violence; establishment of functional prevention; coordination and cooperation of all key actors; continuous monitoring of violence against women and domestic violence,

monitoring the implementation of laws and policies in this field, and reporting in accordance with ratified international instruments;

resources from the state budget to combat violence against women and domestic violence;

supremacy of international law over domestic law, which allows the direct application of international standards and ratified conventions in the legal system of Montenegro.


4.1 NATIONAl sTRATEGIEs AND ACTION plANs

The most important strategic documents focusing entirely on the protection of women against violence, or through their specific chapters / areas or strategic goals are the fol-lowing strategies:

Strategy for protection against domestic violence (2016-2020); Action Plan for Gender Equality (2017-2021); Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro (2016-2020); National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Montenegro for the period up

to 2030.

Each of the aforementioned strategic documents has a special chapter or set of mea-sures pertaining to victims of violence, including victims of violence in general or with focus on certain socially vulnerable groups such as Romans and Egyptians. In addition, there are other strategies that, to a lesser extent, pay attention to gender-based discrim-ination and violence.

4.1.1 STRATEGy FOR PROTECTION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

One of the most important strategies that defines the country’s general policy in rela-tion to protection against domestic violence is the Strategy for the Protection from Domestic Violence. Following the first Strategy, covering the period 2011-2015, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Strategy for the Protection from Domestic Violence for period 2016-202063.

The Strategy for the Protection against Domestic Violence (2011-2015) contained objectives and measures to improve social and other protection, with an emphasis on raising awareness among citizens about the issue of violence, development of violence prevention programs, providing family support, development of legal framework for the protection of victims, strengthening of cooperation between institutions and orga-nizations dealing with the protection of victims of violence, acquiring new knowledge and skills, improving the system for collecting and analyzing data, and reporting.

63 Government of Montenegro (2015). Strategy for Protection against Domestic Violence 2016-2020.

4. NATIONAl sTRATEGIEs AND ACTION plANs

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The key goals of the Domestic Violence Protection Strategy (2011-2015) were: 1. Analy-sis of the situation and identification of key problems in the field of domestic violence; 2. Recognizing existing and new regulations regulating the field of domestic violence and monitoring their realization; 3. Improving social and other forms of protection of victims of domestic violence; 4. Raising the awareness of citizens about the problem of domestic violence.

Within the aforementioned goals, a total of 45 measures were envisaged: introduction of standards in dealing with the victim of domestic violence; analysis of good practice and court decisions; providing space for conducting conversations with victims of domestic violence within police stations and in the courts; free legal aid; educational materials on mechanisms for protection of victims of domestic violence; analysis of existing capacities in the state and NGO sector and establish optimal capacities for providing expert support to victims of family violence with emphasis on children, counseling centers for marriage and family; analysis of existing capacity in the health care system and create a plan of training of professionals; establishment of sustainable models of support services for vic-tims of domestic violence; campaigning aimed at public awareness of the problem of do-mestic violence and distribution of educational promotional materials, and the alignment of the journalistic codex with standards of media reporting on cases of domestic violence.

Evaluation of the Strategy for protection against domestic violence (2011- 2015)

The monitoring research conducted through the review and analysis of the realization of key goals and all 45 measures of the Strategy for Protection from Violence for the period 2011-2015 has shown that 29.05% are realized, 35% partially realized, while 35.5% of mea-sures are not implemented. It should also be emphasized that the largest number of real-ized measures was realized through the engagement and projects of women’s non-gov-ernmental organizations in Montenegro without the support of state institutions64.

In the period 2012-2014 a series of researches and studies were carried out that includ-ed an analysis of perceptions, intensity and forms of domestic violence as well as the in-stitutional and administrative capacities of public institutions relevant to the implemen-tation of the Protocol on actions, prevention of and protection against domestic violence.

The conducted researches has clearly shown a low level of understanding of the se-riousness of the problem, the transfer of responsibility to the victim, the unwilling-ness of citizens to report violence, the lack of awareness on the mechanisms of pro-tection against violence, the low level of trust in the institutions of the system and the disbelief that the problem of domestic violence can be stopped and overcome. At the same time, researches has shown the lack of capacity of all relevant services that work with victims of violence, their lack of information and insufficient coor-dination, lack of support services at the local level and inadequate accompanying infrastructure of the existing ones.

64 B. Zeković; 2015 Monitoring of the Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence 2011-2015;


During the implementation of the strategy, it has issued a series of rulebooks: Rulebook on the content and layout of the order for removal or ban on returning to an apart-ment or other housing65, Rulebook on a closer manner of enforcing a protection orders of removal from the apartment, restraining order and prohibition of harassment and stalking66, Rulebook on the implementation of the protection order of compulsory psy-chosocial treatment of perpetrators of violence; Rulebook on the organization, norms and standards of work of centers for social work67, Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on closer terms and standards for performing professional services in social and child protection68 i Rulebook on closer conditions for provision and use, norms and minimum standards for accommodation services in shelter/temporary shelter69. The fol-lowing laws have been adopted, amended and changed: the Law on Amendments to the Law on free legal aid, the Law on public order and peace70, Law on social and child protection71 , Law on Foreigners, and the Criminal Code of Montenegro was also amend-ed.

With the Law on Amendments to the Law on free legal aid, victims of family violence in the Law on protection from domestic violence, are enabled to be recognized as priv-ileged beneficiaries of the right to free legal aid. Amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro introduced two new security measures: restraining order and removal from the apartment or other living housing area which can be given to the offender of felony of domestic violence or violence in domestic partnership. The new Law on foreigners provides the possibility of temporary residence for victims of trafficking of human beings and the victims of the criminal offense of domestic violence or violence in domestic partnership, through the articles which prescribes a stay in the country for humanitarian reasons.

On December 25, 2011, the Protocol on the Prevention of and protection against domestic violence has been signed, defining procedures and institutional co-operation in the en-forcement of laws and conventions, as well as the obligation to take the necessary mea-sures to ensure the organization, equipment and education of a sufficient number of specialized experts. The courts have established support services to witnesses / injured parties ie. The victims of trafficking, trafficking in children for adoption and domestic violence in domestic partnership, and authorized persons to support the injured parties / witnesses in the cases of the alleged crimes are appointed. Unfortunately, there is no valid information that would indicate that these services had users during the reporting period.

65 Official Gazette 42/12 of 31.07.2012.

66 Official Gazette 50/13 of 30.10.2013

67 Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 58/2013. from 20.12.2013.

68 Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 14/14;

69 Official Gazette of Montenegro, number 26/14;

70 Official Gazette of Montenegro, number 64/2011 of 29.12.2011

71 Official Gazette of Montenegro, number 27/2013 of 11.6.2013.

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At the same time, women’s non-governmental organizations (SOS telephones Podgori-ca, Niksic, Bijelo Polje, Berane, Ulcinj, Plav, Safe Women’s House, Women’s Rights Center and Bona Fide) dealing with the protection of women and children victims of violence continuously provide free legal aid to their clients. The national SOS line for victims of domestic violence started work on September 1, 2015. The line was established by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and managed by NGO SOS Niksic. The national SOS line for victims of domestic violence is urgent, anonymous and available 24/7.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in 2012 carried out an analysis of the capacities of the Centers for Social Work in Montenegro, where it was noted that the network of social work centers does not provide adequate access to services to all citizens. Person-nel structure is often incompatible with the jobs and tasks descriptions delegated to the centers by the law. In 2013, SOS Podgorica has made an analysis of the capacity of the NGO sector, which showed that in 10 Montenegrin cities operate 16 women’s NGOs that provide support services to women and children victims of domestic violence. Or-ganizations providing legal assistance, psychosocial support, mediation through the in-stitutions of the system, the service “confidant”, self-support programs, safe and secure accommodation. The main problem in their work is the lack of financial resources for service sustainability, the economic uncertainty of professional engagement, which of-ten leads to the diminishing of staff trained to work with victims of violence.

In Montenegro, there is only one counseling center for marriages and families, opened in 2012 within Primary health care center Podgorica, as a specialized institution that can pro-vide psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence. During 2012/2013, the Min-istry of Labor and Social Welfare initiated the formation of multidisciplinary teams in 10 centers for social work in Montenegro. The structure of the multidisciplinary teams is not appropriate, which means that in some cities there is a lack of representatives of courts, emergency services, local government. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare has not yet provided supervision for the work of these teams, which would imply not only over-sight but also consultation and counseling - which was supposed to be done in 2013.

Occasional programs to encourage employment and self-employment of victims of domes-tic violence, planned by the strategy for protection from domestic violence, did not give an answer event to the minimum needs of women survivors of violence that are threat-ened by poverty.

Note: There are no standardized forms for reporting on the implementation of the Law on protection from domestic violence. The annual reports of state bodies are based on statistical data without comprehensive analysis of those data, so we can-not talk about key elements and indicators - which should be defined with stan-dardized forms.

The Strategy for the Protection against Domestic Violence (2016-2020) 72 defines a total of 5 goals that in the next five years direct the resources of the state to strengthen



the protection system both sectoral and multi-sectoral, in accordance with the Istanbul Convention and other international acts regulating this area. Thus, some activities relate to individual roles, while others are interrelated and inter-sectoral. These activities are set up very broadly and require further elaboration in the sense of a special program for their implementation (improvement of general support services, specialized support services and activities related to economic empowerment of victims of violence).

Goals of the Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence 2016-2020:

Improved legal framework for protection against domestic violence; Strengthened administrative and professional capacities and a multidisciplinary

approach to enforcing domestic violence protection regulations; Increased public awareness of violence against women and domestic violence; An improved institutional protection system against domestic violence; Improved access to justice and legal protection from domestic violence.

In relation to all goals and activities, a system of indicators has been established that is in line with the requirements and standards stipulated by the Istanbul Convention, the CEDAW and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Funding activities foreseen under the Strategy are provided from the budgets of the relevant ministries, donations, as well as the realization of projects financed by the international community. In order to coordinate, implement, monitor and evaluate the implementation of activities envis-aged in the Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence, the Government of Monte-negro shall establish a Special Commission.73 The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is the body responsible for implementation and monitoring.

Key measures in accordance with the set objectives of the planned action plan for 2016 are:

1. Develop an analysis of recommendations for amending national regulations in accordance with the European Convention for the prevention and suppression of violence against women, amending existing regulations regulating the scope of family violence in accordance with the Proposal.

2. Develop specialized training programs for protection against violence. The pro-grams should cover, inter alia, the following areas: gender equality, the rights of the child and the best interests of the child, preventing and detecting violence, the need and rights of victims of violence, the need and the rights of vulnerable groups, the prevention of secondary victimization and the appropriate and effec-tive response of the bodies / public services, providing legal aid to victims.

3. Provide specialist training programs for professionals in all institutions.4. Organize education for Roma and Egyptian activists so that they can provide ser-

vice of “confidant” to their community members.

73 The Commission consists of representatives of relevant ministries and three representatives of NGOs dealing with protection from domestic violence.

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5. Create special informative materials for victims of violence in which there are ex-plained their rights in a simple and understandable way, including the procedure for usage of free legal aid. Materials should be in official and Albanian language, easily accessible in all institutions, organizations, institutions.

6. For illiterate members of the Roma and Egyptian communities, provide informa-tion on institutional protection through visits to the places where they live, with the mandatory attendance of activists from Roma and Egyptian non-governmental organizations.

7. Organize media education on reporting on violence against women and domes-tic violence, with particular emphasis on respecting the right to privacy and other rights of victims.

8. Develop a methodology for collecting data on domestic violence in order to al-low data exchange, regular monitoring and evaluation of measures to combat vio-lence, as well as public awareness of the situation in this area.

9. Make an analysis of the needs of the competent authorities - institutions for the implementation of the national and international legal framework for protection against violence.

10. Develop a national program of psychosocial treatment for the perpetrators of vio-lence against women and domestic violence, with detailed instructions on how to proceed and ensure its implementation.

11. In cooperation with Roma and Egyptian non-governmental organizations dealing with the problems of forced marriages, issue instructions for handling and process-ing cases of forced marriages.

12. Monitor the application of protection orders and security measures, as well as over-sight over the implementation of these measures.

13. Monitor accessibility, ways and scope of providing free legal assistance to victims of violence.

14. Monitor the implementation of the support and protection system for children wit-nesses and victims of violence, in line with recommendations from the “UN Hand-book for Professionals and Policymakers on Justice in matters involving child vic-tims and witnesses of crime”, as well as in accordance with the standards set up in Istanbul Convention.

Evaluation of the Strategy for protection against domestic violence (2016 -2020)

The Action Plan for this Strategy for 2016 defines only 14 measures/activities, which is insufficient in relation to the issue of violence in Montenegro at all levels. These mea-sures mainly relate to the organization of seminars, analyzing already existing analyzes of compliance with the Istanbul Convention and conducting training in accordance with licensed programs that are not yet in place. Institute of social and child protection is in charge of licensing the programs, but licensing requirements are not created yet. Through these measures, emphasis has been placed on programs that, by nature, are


carried out by non-governmental organizations, with the help of foreign donors rather than state bodies, and ones gets an impression that it was the easiest way just to plan those activities for which the government does not allocate funds.

What characterizes this, as well as other strategies related to gender-based violence, is the lack of budget items - estimates of financial resources, so there is no way to deter-mine the “pricing” of its implementation. Thus, when budgeting the state budget on an annual basis, it is omitted to allocate funds for these purposes. Regardless of the fact that as a key indicator of achievements at the level of all strategy measures, the percent-age of funds disbursed from public funds and the percentage of funds from other re-sources is mentioned74, none of the reports related to the implementation of measures from the strategy does not specify funding sources. It is therefore impossible to estimate how much money the state draws from its budget for prevention and protection pro-grams from family violence.

Regardless of the obligation of the Government, specifically the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, to coordinate, monitor and report on the implementation of the Strategy on Protection from domestic violence, the relevant ministry since 2012 has not made any annual report on this, neither reported to the Government on the achievements of this strategy. SOS phone Podgorica, with the support of the European Commission, through the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro, has developed a moni-toring strategy for protection against domestic violence for the period 2011-201575.

In 2016, the Government of Montenegro adopted a decision on the establishment of the Coordination Committee for the coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and measures to prevent and combat all types of violence cov-ered by the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Vio-lence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), but the change of the vice-premier of the Government, the change in the organization of the ministries, as well as the systematization of jobs, it was necessary to change the composition of the Committee. The new members of this committee will be appointed no later than 7 April 2017. At the level of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare there is no body in charge of family violence issues.76.

Through monitoring of the implementation of the planned 14 measures out of this strategy, it was found that only a) three measures were fully realized (21.3%); b) five were partially implemented (35.7%); c) seven measures were not at all realized (50%).

a) The measures implemented are mostly activities related to the RE population, in-volving training of Roma NGO activists to provide support with „confidant“; visits to Roma settlements in order to inform about the possibilities of protection, while


75 B. Zeković; 2015. Monitoring of the Strategy for Protection from Domestic Violence 2011-2015. Available at: www.sospodgorica.me

76 Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, response to the request for free access to information, decision no. 007-80 / 17-2

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drafting instructions for handling and processing of cases of forced marriages in Roma and Egyptian communities for the needs of the police, centers for social work, schools, courts and health centers, are underway. All activities were carried out with the support of international donors.

b) A comprehensive analysis based on the monitoring of women’s NGOs and interna-tional organizations has not yet been developed, which would define recommen-dations for regulating the legal framework in line with the Council of Europe Con-vention, there was no significant change in the regulations regulating the area of domestic violence. The Ministry of Justice prepared a report on the enforcement of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, but the recommendations and conclusions do not state the need for changes and amendments to the law, regard-less of the number of problems identified in the implementation of this law77.

When it comes to licensing specific training programs for public sector employees, there are currently two licensed programs. One is intended for judges and prosecu-tors, and is implemented by NGO “Women’s Rights Center” in cooperation with the Ministry of human and minority rights and UNDP Office in Montenegro, in partner-ship with the Judicial Training Center and the State Prosecutor’s Office. The second program is licensed by SOS telephones for women and children victims of violence in Podgorica under the title “Education of employees in educational institutions on the treatment, prevention and protection of children

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