Podgorica, (MINA) – Almost one in five women in Montenegro has experienced physical and/or sexual violence after the age of 15, and the main obstacles for reporting it to the authorities are shame, fear and mistrust in the offered services, the OSCE study on violence against women has shown.
According to the Report presented by OSCE’s Serani Siegel to the Gender Equality Committee, 15% of women have experienced one or more forms of violence by former partners, in comparisons to 12% by current partners, while 9% by some other person.
“More than one in 20 women says they experienced stalking after the age of 15, and three out of 10 women experienced sexual harassment”, it is stated in OSCE’s study.
Siegel said that physical violence by a partner has been experienced by 17% of women, sexual violence 3%, and psychological 43%.
According to the press release, third of the respondents believes that Montenegro is a society in which priority is given to boys and men, both at home and at work.
According to OSCE report, one fourth of the respondents believes that violence against women is often provoked by a victim herself, while 40% believes that domestic violence is a private matter.
According to Siegel, regarding the problem of violence against women, Montenegro has a solid legal framework, but it should be updated and fully implemented.
The survey was carried out on the sample of 1,227 women aged 18 to 74.
Asked if they knew what to do in case of violence, 7% of women responded that they do not know what they should do.
Head of the OSCE Mission Maryse Daviet underlined that the whole society must recognize the complexity of the problem of violence against women.
She said that the Montenegrin authorities have already undertook many activities with the goal of resolving this issue.
Daviet stated that we should all work together to put an end to violence against women.
Head of EU Delegation in Montenegro Aivo Orav stressed out that the EU is calling to zero tolerance towards perpetrators, as well as encouraging women to report violence.
He added that the perception that domestic violence is a private matter is widely accepted.
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