Mihajlovic: One in two women in Serbia suffers violence

BELGRADE - One in two women in Serbia experiences some kind of violence, and Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said that the government will work on changing the relevant laws, offering assistance to safe houses, and providing education so as to help women become independent in economic terms.

The Serbian government took the violence against women seriously, and for that reason it set up a coordination body for gender equality, Mihajlovic noted.

"When we talk about violence against women, we must discuss gender equality in earnest, how to empower women, help them be independent, help them solve a problem when they have one," Mihajlovic said at a meeting dedicated to International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women at Tanjug Press Center on Tuesday.

The coordination body will be made up of several committees, and one of them will be tasked with fighting violence against women, Mihajlovic said, adding that this body wants to cooperate with the women's parliamentary network, civil sector, European agencies, but also with the UN agency.

One in two women in Serbia experiences some form of violence, and that is a social problem that should be resolved through joint efforts, she underscored.

This is a serious topic that deserves to be addressed each and every day, the Serbian deputy prime minister said.

Photo Tanjug, T. Valic