The consequences of the violence and the manner in which it was perpetrated speak of a deteriorating situation and backlogs the institutions have not reacted to or been able to react to adequately. Whether this was possible and whether all the institutions had acted in accordance with their duties remains to be ascertained. One important question remains: how was the perpetrator of the violence at Rakovica Social Work Centre allowed to visit every Wednesday even though the employees had reported harassment and were afraid for their safety and why no one had reacted to it.

Even though were have as a state done a lot lately to set up an adequate legal framework by passing the Law on Preventing Domestic Violence and amending the Criminal Code, that is obviously not enough. The state must set up more efficient mechanisms to stand up to the perpetrators of violence. First and foremost, we have to begin to enforce the adopted legislation without delay. All services have to work closer together, starting from specific cases, and review the daily state-of-play. The recent events have shown that severe punishments are not enough of a deterrent, relevant institutions must do all in their power to recognize domestic violence on time and prevent it. Prevention is key, and the first hint of domestic violence must be an alarm both for the women exposed to it and the institutions.

The perpetrators of domestic violence must be prevented from realizing their intentions. Social work centres are clearly not equipped to respond to these demands. It is also clear that this is not only their job, and that they must be given support as regards human resources, better security and training for the experts who work there.

Unfortunately, the recent tragic events which have in fact been happening for years reflect our reality and impaired domestic relations. That is why domestic violence is a social problem that requires urgent measures and responsible handling by the institutions.