35 min read — Serbia | Human Rights | Feminism
The Crime Serbia’s System Won't Name:
FEMICIDE
By Maja Vujović — Serbia Correspondent
May 28, 2025 | 14:00
This article was created as part of the Journalist Academy program organized by the Belgrade Open School and sponsored by Sweden.
Developed over several months, it draws on extensive research from feminist and activist organizations to explore Serbia’s persistent failure to prevent femicide. Through an analytical, investigative, and hybrid journalistic approach, the article not only exposes the deep-rooted social and institutional barriers that enable this violence but also highlights the tireless work of those fighting for change. It is a call to name the crime, confront the system, and imagine a future where no woman’s life is treated as disposable.
- FEMICIDE MUST BE LEGALLY REOCOGNISED
- Seeing femicide through STATISTICS
- Urgent call for a FEMICIDE WATCH
- Institutions have to WAKE UP
- Will Serbia CONFRONT femicide as a global issue?
- PROVEN solutions for combating femicide
- Media’s role in normalizing VIOLENCE
- Patriarchy’s FATAL grip
- Grassroots movements shaping the FIGHT
- Hoping for a SAFER tomorrow
- Meet the expert contributors: bios and full interviews
In recent years, Serbia has been shaken by the brutal murders of women, committed by the men who should have respected and protected them.
These femicides form a grim mosaic, a persistent pattern of violence, which explicitly exposes the deep cracks within Serbia’s institutional framework.
Femicide is not a rare abnormality that shocks the conscience but soon gets forgotten. It’s a predictable, often foretold, and ultimately preventable consequence of systemic neglect and societal indifference.
“Rarely do judges realize that femicide is just the end of all the violence that the woman has somehow endured, and that these are not isolated events.”
(Dr Kosana Beker, FemPlatz, Together Against Femicide)
This article is built on thorough, often distressing, research from feminist and activist organizations, highlighting Serbia’s failure to prevent femicide and the deep-rooted social and institutional barriers that allow it to continue. Yet, it also shines a light on the growing movement fighting for change. These dedicated groups are challenging the status quo, showing that a future without femicide is not only possible but within reach.
During my research of the topic, I reached out to several experts in the field, as well as relevant institutions in Serbia. These interactions will be utilized in this article as reliable sources.
Some statements of experts were originally given in Serbian and have been translated into English.
All statements from institutions were originally given in Serbian and have been translated into English.
Photos used in this article were sourced from Journalists Against Violence’s website, a free resource dedicated to supporting responsible media coverage and the prevention of violence against women.
FEMICIDE MUST BE LEGALLY RECOGNIZED
Naming femicide is not a symbolic act, it is a LEGAL AND POLITICAL IMPERATIVE.
Femicide is the gender-based killing of women, girls, and even female infants, by men. It is not an isolated issue, but the FINAL AND MOST BRUTAL CONSEQUENCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN — be it sexual, physical, economic, psychological, or through stalking. Long-standing abuse preceding these murders is frequently testified to by family members, friends, colleagues, and others in the victim’s environment.
Femicide is not merely a homicide — it is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men and fundamentally rooted in power imbalances, deeply ingrained misogyny, and systemic failures at multiple levels of society.
The killers are not always shadowy figures lurking in the dark. In Serbia, the most frequent and lethal perpetrators are victims’ intimate partners, both current and former, and fathers. The chilling fact is that these perpetrators are often priorly known to the authorities, flagged by victims themselves. This pattern often includes a disturbing prelude of previous threats, documented abuse, the issuance of restraining orders that prove to be mere paper tigers, or prior criminal charges that failed to prevent the ultimate act of violence.
Femicide is not officially tracked or categorized in Serbia. This invisibility contributes to its normalization. When the law does not recognize the gendered nature of these crimes, it sends a dangerous and unacceptable message: that violence against women is not atypical, but expected.
“What is common to all the countries in the region is that femicides are often not qualified adequately. In criminal law, if a crime is not qualified properly, if it is classified as a regular murder or a spontaneous murder, as we saw in some of the cases in our sample, that automatically leads to lighter sentences.”
(Dr Kosana Beker, FemPlatz, Together Against Femicide)
As legal scholars and activists argue, without a distinct classification, femicide remains invisible in the eyes of the law.
“In Serbian law, femicide is not specifically criminalized; cases of women’s killings are categorized under various forms of homicide. Many women’s organizations and experts who research femicide advocate for its criminalization as a distinct form of aggravated murder. Our position is that such a legal qualification would acknowledge and recognize the unique nature of femicide — a crime rooted in the patriarchal matrix of male power and domination, and deeply entrenched in gender inequality. Criminalizing femicide in this way would ensure justice for the victims and their families and make it easier for judges to identify gender-based motives behind women’s killings. Additionally, it would prevent such killings from being classified as lesser forms of homicide — which, as we’ve seen in practice, often results in lighter sentences and inconsistent rulings in the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators. Unfortunately, this proposal has not been embraced by the working group tasked with amending the Criminal Code.”
(Prof. dr Nevena Petrušić, Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality)
Without explicit recognition, Serbia’s institutions cannot implement targeted prevention strategies, nor can they be held accountable for systemic failures.
One of the most obvious and politically significant omissions in Serbia’s legal framework is the absence of a specific criminal offense of femicide. This lack of legal recognition is not a mere technicality though. It has profound consequences for data collection, policy planning, and the effective prosecution of these gender-based killings. The data that is available, often collected by civil society, due to the lack of an official “Femicide Watch”, further emphasizes the need for this legal recognition to improve tracking and analysis.
The legal frameworks and judicial practices in the wider Western Balkan region, as examined in the report on the judicial response to femicide, highlight the importance of specific legal definitions in addressing this crime effectively.
The key detrimental consequences of this legal void include:
– No unified registry or monitoring system: Without a distinct legal definition and a corresponding official “Femicide Watch”, there is no centralized, mandatory, and transparent national registry specifically tracking femicide cases, making it impossible to accurately assess the true scale and patterns of this violence.
– Obscured gender-based motive: Femicide is often simply recorded as “murder” within broader homicide statistics, completely obscuring the critical gender-based motive that underlies these killings and failing to acknowledge the systemic discrimination involved.
– Lack of coordinated prevention strategy: The absence of a specific legal definition and comprehensive data from a national “Femicide Watch” obstructs the development and implementation of targeted and coordinated national strategies specifically aimed at preventing femicide.
“Mitigating circumstances are always found for the perpetrators, and these mitigating circumstances are completely irrelevant to the murder of a woman. For example, that he has poor health, or, for instance, in one case, we had a high school teacher. That is one problem. Another problem is that things which could only be aggravating circumstances are taken as mitigating ones. So, we have very bad examples where, for men who murdered their wife or partner, it was said that being a family man was a mitigating circumstance, or that being a participant in the war of the 1990s was a mitigating circumstance. These are all things that could only be considered aggravating circumstances in that context.”
(Dr Kosana Beker, FemPlatz, Together Against Femicide)
Seeing femicide through STATISTICS
Source used: Femicide Monograph 1st Edition, page 114-117
LOCATION of crimes
City: 52.1%
Village: 29.3%
Suburban area: 1.3%
VUnknown (data anonymized): 17.3%
Specific PLACE of execution:
Shared home/yard of victim and perpetrator: 36.6%
Victim’s home/yard: 31.0%
Other locations: public places (cafés, restaurants), open areas (streets, village roads), victim’s workplace (school, jewelry shop), legal office, car, garage, prison visiting room, perpetrator’s or a relative’s home.
TIME of day
00:00–08:00: 29.2%
08:00–14:00: 27.6%
14:00–24:00: 26.1%
Unknown or anonymized: remaining cases
SEASON of crime
Spring (Mar–May): 26.1%
Summer (Jun–Aug): 26.1%
Autumn (Sep–Nov): 21.5%
Autumn (Sep–Nov): 21.5%
Winter (Dec–Feb): 18.4%
Anonymized time data: 7.7%
MEANS used
Cold weapons (knives, axes, screwdrivers): 36.9%
Physical force (punches, kicks): 30.8%
Firearms: 15.3%
Combination of multiple methods: 16.9%
Other objects used: belt, glass bottle, cable, scarf, hoodie, wooden plank, metal bar, hammer, trophy
Extreme cases: included forced ingestion of acid and severe violence against infants
METHOD of execution
Strangulation or suffocation
Shooting with firearms
Beating (hands, feet, or objects)
Stabbing or slashing (sharp tools/weapons)
Stabbing or slashing (sharp tools/weapons
*Some cases showed severe brutality, especially where perpetrators combined methods or displayed cruel behavior after the act.
These figures represent more than abstract data—they reflect lived realities.
They represent daughters with unfulfilled dreams, mothers whose children are now left to navigate a world without their love, colleagues whose laughter will never again fill office spaces, friends whose absence leaves an unfillable void, and sisters who will never again share the bonds of love, laughter, and support — women whose lives were violently taken, often in the most brutal ways imaginable, despite clear and often repeated warning signs that were tragically ignored.
Urgent call for a FEMICIDE WATCH
The accurate collection of such data is hampered by the lack of a formal, government-established national “Femicide Watch” in Serbia, which civil society organizations have repeatedly called for. While the need for such a mechanism has been recognized in government strategies, it has yet to be fully implemented.
Currently, civil society organizations have taken the initiative to monitor and track femicide cases independently, even creating an interactive map for the region. These efforts highlight the urgent need for an official system to provide comprehensive and reliable data.
“We are working on establishing an independent body to monitor femicides, a so-called “Femicide Watch”, or a control mechanism for monitoring femicide cases. This mechanism would mean that every femicide and every attempted femicide would be tracked, with all data being gathered to see what didn’t work in the entire system, as very often, the cooperation between the bodies responsible for the prevention and protection against violence does not function. It is common for everyone to do their job minimally and not cooperate, even though the law mandates cooperation. Then this mechanism could analyze, see where the bottlenecks are, and who is not doing their job properly, and where the cooperation problems lie, and make recommendations based on that. The purpose of this body is not to punish anyone but to make recommendations and point out what needs to be improved in order to enhance violence prevention and protection.”
(Dr Kosana Beker, initiator of the regional initiative “Together Against Femicide”, FemPlatz, Together Against Femicide)
The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality confirmed in 2024 that no formal system is in place, and no official statistical body regularly collects or reports on femicide-related data. Without official data and standardized definitions, it is impossible to track patterns, evaluate institutional responses, or implement targeted interventions.
“We demand the urgent establishment of a specialized body for monitoring femicide because we don’t want to only read it in newspapers. This is the only way we find out about women being killed. So, whenever we go to the public and say this is the seventh femicide or the eighth or the twentieth, we say this is the least amount. This is the least amount. This is the number that we found out reading the newspapers. So, this is why we need this establishment of a specialized body for monitoring femicide.”
(Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
According to the 2023 Regional Femicide Report, countries in the region that have taken the crucial step of legally defining femicide have demonstrated greater success in both prevention efforts and the effective prosecution of perpetrators. Thus, emphasizing the urgent need for Serbia to follow suit, informed by detailed data collection through a “Femicide Watch”.
Institutions have to WAKE UP
Public institutions in Serbia often exhibit a disturbing reluctance to explicitly acknowledge femicide as the distinct and gender-based crime that it is. While some politicians may issue carefully worded statements of condemnation in the immediate aftermath of high-profile femicides, these often amount to little more than performative gestures, rarely followed by the kind of fundamental structural reforms that are desperately needed. The absence of a comprehensive, government-led “Femicide Watch” also contributes to the state’s limited systematic engagement with the issue.
According to reports from the Autonomous Women’s Center, over the past ten years, only one in three murdered women had previously reached out to the relevant institutions for help.
“What we hear women say is that women don’t feel safe reporting or speaking about violence because they don’t trust institutions.”
(Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
The institutional response to the pervasive crisis of gender-based violence in Serbia is too often reactive, a hurried attempt after the irreparable damage has been done, rather than proactive and genuinely preventive.
“As with all criminal acts, the uncertainty of accountability and sentencing, inconsistent court practices, and the lack of condemnation by society—especially within the immediate community—are also contributing factors to the rise in femicide.”
(The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, RS)
Despite the enactment of the progressive Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence (2016) and the establishment of coordination mechanisms on paper, the actual implementation remains woefully weak and inconsistent.
Police officers are known to have dismissed the victim’s reports, social workers lack the tools or time to intervene, and judges are known to have handed down lenient sentences or failed to impose restraining orders. In such a context, femicide becomes the predictable end to a cycle of violence enabled by systemic apathy.
“The protection of victims in Serbia depends on which professional in each institution the victim comes in contact with. There are great professionals, people who are really doing their job as they should, and are giving even more than they are obliged to, who understand the problem. And then there are those who are forced to do it, and who don’t want to act in the cases of protection from domestic violence, or violence against women. And, unfortunately, there are also some of the professionals who are perpetrators themselves or victims themselves.”
(Vanja Macanović, lawyer, Autonomous Women’s Center Belgrade)
Restraining orders, which prohibit approaching or contacting a person, are measures prescribed by law and have been increasingly issued in recent years. However, the police in Serbia currently lack the ability to conduct continuous monitoring, either electronically or through other means, of individuals subject to such orders. In some countries, electronic bracelets are used, which alert the system if the order gets violated.
“We demand that anyone who gets a restraining or no contact order has to wear an ankle monitor so they can’t sneak around it because we really had enough femicides from men that had those restraining orders, and they just didn’t care. They went out and did their job and, in most situations, they killed themselves as well. So, who is responsible? Who is accountable? And we really need those ankle monitors so it’s not on women to then call the police and to report. That shouldn’t be her job.”
(Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
The issue goes beyond the failure to enforce restraining measures — there is a systemic inability to properly recognize and provide the necessary support services for victims. This lack of comprehensive protection leaves victims vulnerable and unprotected.
“Women NGOs do not receive any funds from the state, so all the funds that women NGOs receive are by writing projects and applying for funds wherever we can, even though there are some state funds, but state funds are not given to the independent women NGOs. Seven to eight years ago, the state took the SOS hotline away from women NGOs, and that state SOS hotline now doesn’t operate in the manner it should, in the manner in which women NGOs’ SOS hotline operates. So, this is why we don’t have any women NGOs hotline working 24/7, but we are working as much as we can. Also, when it comes to free legal aid, which some of the women organizations also provide, it’s also something that the state doesn’t give funds to. Free legal aid is deeply connected with all the other support that we provide for women, because all these cases that the victim needs to initiate, they cost.”
(Vanja Macanović, lawyer, Autonomous Women’s Center Belgrade)
The 2022 analysis of court practices, in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, conducted by FemPlatz, illustrates a profound lack of systemic understanding of the complex nature of femicide and the critical importance of accurate and timely risk assessment in preventing these tragedies.
Consider the case in the Serbian city of Pančevo, where a woman was stabbed to death by her husband just days after bravely filing for divorce, a final act of agency that cost her her life. She had previously reported his domestic violence, but it was just a desperate plea that went unanswered.
Or the mother in the city of Niš, murdered by her partner in the presence of her terrified children. A tragedy that unfolded despite her multiple reports to the authorities. A man who was never deemed enough of a threat to be detained. These are not isolated anomalies; they are just two visible peaks of a submerged iceberg of systemic inertia that leads to irreversible and devastating consequences.
“Authorities must understand that the state is obliged to provide a holistic response to violence against women, regardless of the form it takes or the context in which it occurs. Women and their needs must be placed at the center of all policies and actions. This requires adopting a strategic document and a national action plan that outlines a comprehensive policy and an effective system of measures for preventing violence against women, and for ensuring protection and support for survivors of gender-based violence.”
(Prof. dr Nevena Petrušić, Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality)
Institutions have to WAKE UP
Serbia is a signatory to the Istanbul Convention, a landmark international treaty that mandates the comprehensive prevention of gender-based violence, the robust protection of victims, and the effective prosecution of offenders. However, the implementation of these crucial commitments in Serbia remains painfully insufficient. The absence of a systematic ‘Femicide Watch’ further complicates the understanding of the true extent of the problem, making it difficult to assess the effectiveness of the implemented measures, thereby hindering full compliance with the Convention.
“One approach, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, is to propose amendments to criminal legislation that would tighten the minimum and maximum legal penalties for these crimes.”
(Ministry of Justice)
The GREVIO (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) report, which monitors the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, has noted significant shortcomings in Serbia’s efforts, including a persistent lack of adequate shelters and essential support services for victims. Furthermore, victims are often denied access to crucial legal aid and psychological support, leaving them vulnerable and isolated. Critically, Serbia still lacks a comprehensive national strategy specifically focused on the prevention of femicide, which could be significantly strengthened by the data and analysis provided by a “Femicide Watch”.
“During the drafting of the working version of the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code, the Ministry of Justice received numerous initiatives proposing specific measures to improve criminal-legal protection in particular areas. A public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code was held from October 1 to November 1, 2024. Given the significant public interest, a second round of public consultation is planned for 2025, during which the relevance and justification of all submitted suggestions, comments, and proposals will be reviewed — including the initiative to introduce a legal definition of femicide into the Criminal Code.”
(Ministry of Justice)
PROVEN solutions for combating femicide
Croatia‘s femicide law: Croatia has passed a law explicitly defining femicide in its criminal code, introducing harsher sentences for perpetrators.
Italy‘s mandatory training: Italy has implemented mandatory training programs for police officers, judges, and prosecutors to understand the dynamics of gender-based violence. This includes recognizing warning signs and conducting effective risk assessments.
Spain‘s Observatorio contra la Violencia Doméstica y de Género: Spain has established the Observatory on domestic and gender-based violence to collect and analyze data on gender-based violence, including femicide. This observatory is integrated by various institutions, including the General Council of the Judiciary.
Workplace guidelines: Spain’s “Protocol for Prevention and Action against Gender Violence” includes workplace guidelines for responding to violence against women. This protocol ensures that gender-based violence is addressed in various settings, including workplaces.
France‘s monitoring systems: France has implemented strict monitoring systems to ensure that restraining orders are respected and enforced, including the use of electronic tracking devices for offenders.
Finland‘s support for survivors: Finland provides comprehensive support for survivors of domestic violence, including shelters, legal aid, and psychological counseling. The European Institute for Gender Equality has estimated the cost of intimate partner violence against women in Finland, highlighting the need for such services.
UK‘s “This is Abuse” campaign: The UK launched the “This is Abuse” campaign to educate young people about healthy relationships and challenge harmful stereotypes about masculinity.
Laws against online abuse: The UK has passed laws making online abuse a criminal offense, providing victims with legal recourse. This includes the Online Safety Act, which sets out new criminal offenses related to online abuse.
Sweden‘s priority for domestic violence cases: Sweden prioritizes domestic violence cases in its judicial system, with specialized courts and faster processing times. This approach is part of Sweden’s commitment to combating domestic violence.
Iceland‘s gender equality policies: The government of Iceland has implemented policies to promote gender equality in the workplace, such as equal pay audits and parental leave. These policies aim to reduce gender inequality and empower women.
Netherlands‘ public-private collaboration: The Netherlands has public and private sectors collaborating to fund initiatives aimed at preventing domestic violence and femicide. This collaboration ensures comprehensive support for victims.
Media’s role in normalizing VIOLENCE
The role of the media in shaping public perception and accountability is also deeply problematic. Instead of providing informative and respectful coverage that centers the victim and analyzes the systemic failures, many Serbian media outlets prioritize sensationalism by:
- Publishing graphic and avoidable details: Sensationalizing the violence itself, often retraumatizing victims’ families and contributing to a climate of fear.
- Engaging in blame-the-victim narratives: Promoting toxic narratives which suggest that the victim somehow provoked the violence or was responsible for her own demise (“She should have left sooner,” “She provoked him with her actions”).
- Humanizing the perpetrator while dehumanizing the victim: Focusing on the perpetrator’s supposed “loss of control” or portraying them as victims of circumstance, thereby obscuring the gendered nature of the violence and minimizing the victim’s humanity. For example, victims may be portrayed as ‘asking for it’ due to their behavior or appearance, further stripping them of their dignity and reducing their suffering to something less than human.
Headlines such as “He Killed Her Because He Loved Her” or “Tragic Beauty Dead in Lover’s Rage” reduce systemic violence to isolated romantic tragedies.
“Control, possessiveness, and entitlement to someone else’s life is not love.”
(Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
In a 2023 case covered by multiple outlets, a murdered woman’s past relationships were scrutinized more than the killer’s history of abuse. This reflects a broader media tendency to shift blame to victims while failing to explore the institutional negligence that enabled the crime.
An activist group Journalists Against Violence wrote guidelines for Media Reporting on Violence Against Women.
They also offer a free database of photos and illustrations intended for all media outlets aiming to contribute to a better understanding and prevention of violence against women through responsible reporting.
State institutions have taken no serious steps yet to regulate or penalize harmful reporting.
This kind of irresponsible and often unethical media coverage actively perpetuates the dangerous culture of victim-blaming and normalizes violence against women, hindering efforts to foster genuine societal change.
Patriarchy’s FATAL grip
Ultimately, femicide in Serbia does not occur in a vacuum; it thrives in a societal ecosystem which, to varying degrees, enables it.
Serbia’s cultural landscape, while evolving, still harbors deeply entrenched norms that reinforce:
- Patriarchal family models: Traditional family structures where male dominance is often normalized and women’s autonomy is undervalued.
“Perpetrators believe that women must not and should not make decisions freely; instead, they see it as their prerogative to decide whether to “let her leave” or to “pass judgment” on her.” (The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, RS) - Toxic masculinity: Harmful constructs of masculinity that portray men as possessive protectors, frequently manifesting as controlling tendencies and violent responses when their sense of control is questioned.
- Public tolerance of violence: A disturbing level of public tolerance for domestic violence, particularly in more rural communities, where abuse is often dismissed as a “private family issue” and external intervention is discouraged.
“As with all criminal acts, the uncertainty of accountability and sentencing, inconsistent court practices, and the lack of condemnation by society—especially within the immediate community—are also contributing factors to the rise in femicide
“Gender inequality continues to permeate all relationships in both the private and public spheres—and this is clearly reflected in statistical data. Here lie the root causes of violence against women, which often escalates into femicide. Therefore, any effective effort to combat femicide and violence against women must address these root causes. This means systematically working to dismantle gender stereotypes and prejudices, to transform patriarchal gender norms, to integrate gender perspectives into all state policies, and to promote and advance a culture of gender equality. It also means preventing all forms of discrimination against women. This is the only appropriate approach, because otherwise we will remain a society that continually “produces” violent men — something the late Marina Blagojević Hughson consistently warned us about.”
(Prof. dr Nevena Petrušić, Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality)
Femicide in Serbia is a clear reflection of a severely patriarchal society that continues to devalue women’s lives and dismiss their fundamental right to safety and security.
“We really can’t stand to hear about courts considering as mitigating circumstances the fact that abusers are ‘family men’, ‘respected citizens’, ‘have chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure’, or something, and then they don’t serve their sentences as they should. Enough with that!”
(Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
Tragically, women in Serbia are often discouraged from leaving abusive relationships due to widespread social stigma, a lack of adequate support networks, or economic dependence on their abusers, trapping them in increasingly dangerous situations.
”What we noticed in recent years is that women that are older than 46, in two-thirds of cases, are victims of femicide. And it also tells us that women who are older, who grew up on patriarchal values, primarily those who do not have support from their grown-up children or families, are more likely to be killed. And also some of those women were not just victims of interpersonal violence, but, for instance, they were killed by their sons or grandsons.“
(Vanja Macanović, lawyer, Autonomous Women’s Center Belgrade)
Grassroots movements shaping the FIGHT
Despite state inertia, Serbia’s feminist movement has remained resilient. Organizations like the AWC, FemPlatz, SOS Network Vojvodina and Women in Black offer legal aid, psychological support, and advocacy for survivors. Public protests, social media campaigns, and shadow reports to international bodies have pressured the state to act.
These groups also serve as unofficial monitors of femicide, compiling data, analyzing trends, and pushing for systemic reform. In the absence of governmental action, they have become the country’s most dependable advocates for justice.
“I would say grief, rage, and mostly a lack of understanding of what femicide is and why it should be an issue at all motivated us to dedicate our activism to this issue. In 2023, we came together in Novi Sad during the Serbia Against Violence protests because we recognized that femicide is somehow a normalized part of the larger culture of violence. And this is how our informal group was born because we couldn’t bear to read about yet another femicide and do nothing.” (Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change)
In 2023, FemPlatz launched an initiative to create an independent digital femicide database, modeled after Latin American examples, in order to provide researchers and policymakers with accurate, accessible data. Despite the systemic failures and deeply entrenched challenges, there is a powerful and growing current of hope in Serbia. Women’s rights organizations, courageous survivors who break the silence, and dedicated activists are creating increasing pressure for meaningful change:
Public protests: Organizing powerful public protests and demonstrations in the wake of high-profile femicides, demanding accountability and systemic reform.
Online petitions and advocacy: Launching impactful online petitions and advocacy campaigns that demand concrete legislative and policy changes, including the establishment of an official “Femicide Watch”.
Survivor narratives: Brave survivors are increasingly sharing their, often mortifying, stories in the media and at public forums, shattering the wall of silence and demanding recognition.
Key organizations: Tireless organizations like the Autonomous Women’s Center and FemPlatz, along with impactful campaigns like #NiJednaViše (#NotOneMore), are at the forefront of advocating for systemic change, providing crucial support, and actively working towards the establishment of a “Femicide Watch” to better understand and combat this violence.
“Alongside civil society organizations that support women who have experienced violence, a new wave of feminist groups with an abolitionist lens has recently gained ground in Serbia. These organizations shift the focus from punishment to prevention, emphasizing the root causes and deeper societal structures that fuel gender-based violence. Unlike service-oriented groups, they approach the issue from a more theoretical perspective, aiming to rethink the foundations of violence rather than solely respond to its consequences. Some within this movement criticize mainstream feminist efforts for concentrating too heavily on punitive measures instead of long-term systemic change.”
(Marija Srdić, ex-journalist, activist with the Women’s Platform for the Development of Serbia)
“I think that if we want to solve gender-based violence long term, we have to understand why it comes to violence. Why is it that this individual was driven to violence? We know that a lot of perpetrators have been victims themselves. They’re survivors of abuse. How do we deal with that? We can’t ignore that in a just society. How do we ignore that? We have to answer those questions. So I think, unfortunately, dealing with violence is a long process, it’s a difficult process, it’s a process that involves more than just punishment, it asks a lot of us, it asks us to consider how to make societies that are less violent. So, I think that there are no easy answers with abolition feminism, and it requires work, it requires working towards a different, more just society that takes a holistic approach to violence without easy answers.”
(Vanja Petrović, co-founder of the abolitionist Novi Sad Feminist Collective)
Hoping for a SAFER tomorrow
To genuinely reduce and ultimately prevent the ongoing tragedy of femicide, Serbia must undertake urgent and comprehensive action across multiple fronts:
- Introduce a specific definition of femicide in the criminal code: This is a fundamental step towards acknowledging the gendered nature of these crimes and ensuring appropriate legal consequences.
- Mandatory specialized training: Implement mandatory and comprehensive specialized training for police officers, judges, and prosecutors on the dynamics of gender-based violence and effective risk assessment. The data collected by a future national “Femicide Watch” can inform the content and focus of this training.
- Establish a National Femicide Observatory: Create a centralized and transparent national “Femicide Watch” to systematically collect, analyze, and publish disaggregated data on femicide, informing evidence-based prevention strategies and holding institutions accountable.
- Ensure consistent enforcement of restraining orders: Strengthen mechanisms for the consistent and effective enforcement of restraining orders and provide proactive monitoring of perpetrators. The data from a “Femicide Watch” can help identify patterns of non-enforcement and areas for improvement.
- Expand support networks: Significantly expand the network of adequately funded shelters, accessible hotlines, and comprehensive psychological and legal support services for victims of gender-based violence.
- Launch public awareness campaigns: Implement sustained and impactful public awareness campaigns to challenge harmful cultural norms, promote gender equality, and encourage bystander intervention in cases of potential violence. The messaging of these campaigns can be informed by the data and analysis provided by a “Femicide Watch”.
- Consistent funding for NGOs: Ensure consistent and long-term funding for women’s rights NGOs and support service providers, moving away from precarious project-based funding models. Organizations that are already active in monitoring femicide, are crucial partners in establishing and contributing to a future official “Femicide Watch”.
“Gender-based violence requires continuous monitoring and urgent response through appropriate measures within the protection and prevention system. Given that a national femicide monitoring mechanism has still not been established—despite being foreseen in the Strategy for Combating Violence Against Women—we have reiterated our initiative to establish this mechanism during the reporting year.”
(The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, RS)
A comprehensive approach to preventing femicide must also prioritize long-term strategies focused on challenging patriarchal norms, investing in accessible and comprehensive support services for survivors, and exploring alternative justice mechanisms that address root causes, rather than solely relying on punitive measures.
Without such reforms, women in Serbia will continue to die. Not because they are unlucky, but because they are UNHEARD.
“There is much to be done—not only legislatively, but also more broadly at the societal level. As for the legal framework, it can be said that it has improved significantly since 2002. However, there is still a need for further refinement—primarily, full alignment of criminal provisions related to gender-based violence with the definitions outlined in the Istanbul Convention, which Serbia has ratified.”
(Prof. dr Nevena Petrušić, Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality)
Femicide in Serbia is not an inevitable tragedy; it is a direct consequence of persistent institutional neglect, a societal tolerance for violence against women rooted in patriarchal norms, and a systemic misogyny that devalues women’s lives. Serbia possesses the knowledge, the resources, and, as a signatory to international human rights conventions, the fundamental obligation to prevent this senseless loss of life.
What remains desperately needed is unwavering political will at all levels of government, including the commitment to establish and support a comprehensive national “Femicide Watch”.
“It must be said that the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in 2013 and the adoption of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence in 2017 were perceived within the women’s movement as pivotal moments in the fight against gender-based violence in Serbia.
In everyday life, however, the initial enthusiasm has gradually faded with the realization that what the law proclaims does not receive its full, effective, and desperately needed implementation within institutions.
Much has indeed been done—with the support of international organizations as well as domestic specialized NGOs and experts—to raise awareness and build capacity among professionals in the system: prosecutors and judges, police officers, social services, schools, and beyond, to implement the new law.
And yet, it is painfully clear that much more is needed—more resources, more support, and, above all, more willingness to break from entrenched practices and enact real change.
Sometimes, when I hear people from the system listing everything that exists and boasting about their accomplishments, I think of all those women they failed. The women they never even saw or heard—who are no longer here. Killed after reporting violence, having received everything but support… from the police or the Centre for Social Work. They never went back there.
They were killed because no one monitored the enforcement of the restraining order.
They were killed because the risk assessment was wrong.
They were killed because they were never informed about their rights and options for protection.
They were killed because the perpetrator had “buddies” in the police who looked the other way.
The list of reasons is long.
The real question is: are we, as a system, actually better at saving women’s lives and offering services that provide a path out of violence?
We are not. And we are not making progress.”
(Marija Srdić, ex-journalist, activist with the Women’s Platform for the Development of Serbia)
Every woman in Serbia deserves the fundamental human right to live a life free from fear and violence. Every institution of the state must be held accountable for upholding this right, informed by accurate data and analysis. And every citizen must recognize that silence in the face of such brutality is not neutrality but complicity.
“There is still much work ahead of us if we want a society in which women and girls are safe, and can enjoy all human rights equally with men.”
(Prof. dr Nevena Petrušić, Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality)
Femicide is not merely a statistic. It is a symptom of deep-seated inequality, normalized violence, and institutional failure.
Serbia stands at a crossroads. It can continue down the path of denial and bloodshed, or it can choose accountability, justice, and protection for all its citizens.
**
Meet the expert contributors: bios and full interviews
Dr. Kosana Beker, Fem Platz, initiator of the Regional Initiative “Together Against Femicide”
Kosana Beker earned her PhD at the Center for Gender Studies of the Association of Centers for Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (ACIMSI) at the University of Novi Sad. She completed her master’s degree in Gender Studies at the University for Peace, Costa Rica (UN-mandated University for Peace), and previously graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, where she also passed the bar exam.
For many years, she has been engaged in human rights and the prohibition of discrimination, with a particular focus on the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities. She is the author of numerous papers, publications, and research in the fields of anti-discrimination law and human rights. She currently works as the program director of the women’s association FemPlatz and as a consultant in the areas of anti-discrimination and gender equality.
She previously worked as an assistant to the Commissioner for Equality Protection of the Republic of Serbia, and has also been employed at the institution of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Serbia. She has extensive experience working in the civil sector.
From 2013 to 2016, she was a member of the Executive Board of Equinet – the European Network of Equality Bodies, and since 2017, she has been a member of ANED, the European Academic Network of Experts in Disability.
Listen/read the full interview with Dr. Beker.
Prof. Dr. Nevena Petrušić, professor at the Faculty of Law, was Serbia’s first Commissioner for Protection of Equality
Professor Dr. Nevena Petrušić graduated from the Faculty of Law in Niš in 1981. She defended her master’s thesis titled “Proceedings in Disputes Arising from Parent-Child Relations” at the Faculty of Law in Niš in 1988, and her doctoral dissertation titled “Proceedings for the Division of Joint Property or Assets” in 1995, also at the Faculty of Law in Niš. She has been employed at the Faculty since 1982. In 2006, she was appointed Full Professor in the narrower scientific field of Civil Law at the Faculty of Law in Niš.
Throughout her professional career, Prof. Dr. Nevena Petrušić has published 5 textbooks, 10 monographs, 4 practice manuals, and 113 scholarly articles. She has participated, and continues to participate, in 14 research projects. She has also undergone professional training in several European countries and the United States.
Read the full interview with prof. Dr. Petrušić
Vanja Macanović, lawyer, working with victims of violence for over a decade (Autonomous Women’s Center Belgrade)
Vanja Macanović is a lawyer and a member of the Autonomous Women’s Center (AŽC) since 2005. She coordinates the center’s legal aid service, which provides free legal assistance to women who are survivors of various forms of intimate partner, domestic, and sexual violence. She is an alumna of the Women’s Human Rights Institute (2009–2011), a former member of the Observatory of the European Women’s Lobby (2012–2019), and a former member of the Gender Equality Council of the Ombudsman of Serbia (2012–2018).
Macanović is actively involved in proposing and monitoring national laws and policies. She is a co-author of AŽC reports submitted to the UN CEDAW and CRC Committees, the Council of Europe GREVIO Committee, and the prEUgovor coalition’s Alarm reports on Serbia’s EU accession progress. She also designs and delivers training for professionals in the judiciary, police, and social welfare centers, focusing on violence against women and children, coordinated institutional response, and risk assessment.
Listen to the full interview with Vanja Macanović.
Aleksandra Mirimanov, activist, Women for Change
Aleksandra Mirimanov is an art pedagogue, project manager, and committed activist with extensive experience supporting marginalized and vulnerable groups — including refugees, users of psychiatric services, and children without parental care. She holds a degree in Fine Arts – Painting, from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, and has completed three years of education in Integrative Art Psychotherapy. Her professional development includes specialized training in child welfare, trauma-informed care, and gender studies.
Aleksandra is a member of the informal activist collective Women for Change and serves as co-president of the gender equality group within the local Bravo movement. Her work is deeply rooted in both personal and community-based care, reflected in her role as a devoted mother to a teenager.
Listen to the full interview with Aleksandra Mirimanov.
Vanja Petrović, MA, feminist, non-binary activist, and doctoral student in Social Policy and Social Work
Vanja Petrović, MA, is a non-binary activist, independent researcher, and a doctoral student in Social Policy at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade. Their fields of interest and research include the history of local feminism, abolitionist feminism, and solidarity-based, non-hierarchical organizing. Vanja is also one of the co-founders of the abolitionist Novi Sad Feminist Collective (NS FAK), and the author for the feminist portal Vox Feminae.
Listen to the full interview with Vanja Petrović.
Marija Srdić, ex-journalist, activist with the Women’s Platform for the Development of Serbia
Marija Srdić studied at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade and has lived and worked across various cities in the former Yugoslavia. In journalism since 1998, she has progressed from contributing journalist to editor-in-chief, with experience at NIN, Yutel, Belle Amie Radio, Radio Sajam, and RTV VK.
She is the founder and long-time leader of the Women Support Center and the SOS Vojvodina network. Since 2016, she has been working as a consultant through her own agency, Misija SMART. A passionate supporter of handmade crafts, she actively promotes artisans, creatives, and small producers from Vojvodina. A lifelong feminist and anti-fascist, she continues to advocate for social justice and women’s rights.
The author of this text is Maja Vujović, a journalist for the Euro Prospects portal. The text was created as part of the Journalism Academy program organized by the Belgrade Open School.
Disclaimer: While Euro Prospects encourages open and free discourse, the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or views of Euro Prospects or its editorial board.
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