In his opening address, Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic said that Serbia has made considerable progress in combating discrimination against women, but the prevailing prejudice continues to keep the status of women far from the one guaranteed by laws and the international conventions the Republic of Serbia pledged to. Discrimination against women is best illustrated by the fact that we continue to hear about cases of violence against women, often with fatal consequences, that women are exposed to because they are physically weaker and cannot fight off the assailants or are economically dependent and cannot take the decisive step and break the vicious circle, said Meho Omerovic.
He stressed that the National Assembly, Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality and the Women’s Parliamentary Network can help advance the position of women by improving the legislative framework and their Government control function.
Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinator of the Government’s Gender Equality Body Zorana Mihajlovic stressed that stopping discrimination is the key goal, and in order to achieve it the civil society, NGOs and state institutions all need to join forces. What we as women need to accept is that more than half the women in Serbia are unemployed, they are paid considerably less than men and are victims of domestic violence, stressed Zorana Mihajlovic. As Head of the Government’s Gender Equality Coordinating Body she said that the Commissioner for Protection of Equality as an institution is the focus of ample attention and, in cooperation with independent institutions and the non-governmental sector, the Body is working on passing gender equality laws and fostering a political climate conducive to ending discrimination against women.
Gordana Comic, National Assembly Deputy Speaker and coordinator of the Women’s Parliamentary Network, said that all types of violence, abuse, threats, discrimination have to be sanctioned. That is why the Anti-Discrimination Law was adopted, which enabled the establishment of the institution of Commissioner for Protection of Equality. Despite the fact that it was obvious that the Law would not function well because it does not institute a prison sentence as penalty, there has been visible and demonstrable progress, said Gordana Comic. She stressed that any case solved in the combat against any type of discrimination against women, is a great success in the fight against it.
Irena Vojackova–Sollorano, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia, said that life without violence is a fundamental human right. She also said that there are few women in leadership positions and that their position should be improved.
Commissioner for Protection of Equality Nevena Petrusic presented the Commissioner for Protection of Equality’s Special Report on Discrimination against Women saying that it rounds up the five years of the institutions’ work. She added that the report presents a cross section of the current situation and lists all types of discrimination against women. Analysing the reports of state bodies, civil society organisations and international organisations, we systemised and presented the findings and assessments of the position of women in different spheres of social life, said Nevena Petrusic. Women from multiply marginalised and discriminated social groups were of particular interest. The activities aimed against discrimination are conducted in an environment of deep-seated sexism, gender stereotyping and prejudice. Despite the adopted laws, strategies, action plans and protocols, the victims of violence continue to wonder through the labyrinths of the legal system without help or support, said Petrusic. She added that in the last year, 27 women lost their lives in domestic disputes. However, she said that there has been visible progress in the establishment of institutional mechanisms for the implementation of gender equality policies, among them, first and foremost, the establishment of the Government’s Gender Equality Coordinating Body.
The Commissioner for Protection of Equality recommends having more women in leadership positions and the future gender equality law to include a provision requiring 30% of the less represented sex to be employed by all government bodies. She said that the report contains 40 recommendations and is an appeal to all public administration bodies, civil society bodies and the media to join forces in suppressing the ideology of sexism, stereotype and prejudice, using all at the system’s disposal to prevent discrimination.

In the continuation, the assembly was addressed by representatives of independent regulatory bodies and civil society.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic.