Advocacy meeting for the Emergency Shelter

The Roma Center for Women and Children Daje, with the support of the Autonomous Women’s Center within the project Institutionalization of quality services for the support and integration of women who have survived violence, advocates that the State of Serbia establish accommodation for women who have experienced current violence or escaped it.

Reasons for which we consider the existence of the Emergency Shelter necessary in order to protect women who urgently need protection and accommodation:

• An emergency shelter for women victims of violence cannot be the same as a shelter for the elderly and adults. A woman who experiences violence cannot be placed together with other men or those who are intoxicated, because that would represent additional stress, fear and trauma for her, in terms of secondary victimization. A woman needs peace and support from other women who have survived the same, as well as the complete commitment of professionals.

• This type of accommodation already exists widely in other European countries, and all the principles and responsibilities of the staff towards women who have experienced violence, as well as towards their children, have been fully developed.

• An aggravating circumstance for the Roma community is that the women victims of violence are very often minors and do not have the personal documents that are necessary for the women to be placed in the Safe House.

At the meeting held on 27 05. important decisions were made and a further advocacy plan was formed.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Secretariat for Social Protection of the City Administration of the City of Belgrade, the Department for Suppression of Juvenile Delinquency – MUP Voždovac, from the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Praxis, Trag Foundation, Center Novi Svet and the inspector of social protection.

We will continue the advocacy action primarily with an invitation that we will soon receive from the Social Protection team of the City of Belgrade, where we will participate in a public discussion within the Strategy for Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion of Roma and Roma Women, where we will present our proposal for a service that should be included in the action plan.

The idea that came out of the discussion at the meeting is to do research in order to pilot this project, which would see the importance and functioning of this service and which would give the state a clear insight into its necessity. It is necessary to hire an expert who would estimate the costs, as well as to create an overall strategic plan for the functioning of such an institution and to conduct research based on that. As for the financing of this pilot project, the Trag Foundation is at our disposal as part of a competition that will be announced in the coming period. For further financing and realization of this service, we hope for cooperation with the City of Belgrade, and with the support and help we have from other donors, cooperating organizations, as well as state institutions that are involved in work with family violence, we believe that we are on the right track.

It was concluded that the establishment of an Emergency Shelter as a new service or a service that will be part of the already existing Safe House is necessary in order to protect women victims of domestic violence, but also to prevent the same. Accommodation without conditions and criteria for entry will make it easier for women to decide to leave their abusers.

By signing the support for this project, it was decided that all those present will get involved and provide help from the point of view of their professions.