Members of the four competent commissions of both houses of the Federal Parliament for the field of social protection today held a thematic session on the implementation of the Act on protection against domestic violence and violence against women, as the majority of representatives and delegates are of the opinion that the adoption of by-laws should be accelerated.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the President of the Security Committee, Dragan Mioković, presented to the parliamentarians and other participants of the session, representatives of the competent institutions and non-governmental organizations for the social protection system, worrying data that indicate that in the first nine months of this year, 1,437 cases of domestic violence were reported, which is an increase of 29 percent.
– In more than 85 percent of cases, the victims are women, and almost half of the perpetrators are returnees. In the last five years, one woman was killed every 31 days in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only five percent of murdered women suffered random violence. The state of criminality in FBiH is on the decline, domestic violence is only increasing. These figures are not statistics, they are lives, people who died and systems that failed – said Mioković.
Sexual exploitation of minors
At the session, regret was expressed due to the recent serious cases of sexual exploitation of minors, in which even police officers were involved, as well as the tragedy in the Tuzla Canton, where the fire in the Pensioners’ Home and the investigation into juvenile prostitution further exposed the deep dysfunctionality of the social protection system.
– Despite everything, three key laws that would make the system more functional: the Law on Social Services, the Law on Inspections of FBiH and the Law on Foster Care, have been sitting in the drawers for months. The same applies to the Law on Arms and Ammunition, which would enable uniform records of weapons and reduce the risks to women’s safety, given that 68 percent of murdered women were killed by firearms – Mioković pointed out.
The meeting was held with the support of the OSCE Mission to BiH, where the Head of the Mission, Ambassador Richard Holtzapple, said that this was an opportunity to discuss the state of the social protection system, with special reference to the protection of children and adults in need.
– The mission believes that every woman and girl must live without fear – underlined Holtzapple.
The Law on protection against domestic violence and violence against women is in force in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was adopted at the session of the House of Representatives on February 4 and at the session of the House of Peoples on March 4.
The decree on the promulgation of that law was signed by the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lidija Bradara, on March 12, and it was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since its implementation.
According to parliamentarians, the implementation of this law should be ensured by courts, prosecutor’s offices, police authorities, guardianship authorities and other institutions responsible for social and health care and specialized non-governmental organizations with the obligation of joint and coordinated action.
System error
That’s the only way, emphasizes the president of the Committee for Gender Equality of the House of Peoples, Aida Obuća, that there will be no error in the system.
He explains that it is finally time for the Federation to get a unified and functional system for the protection of the most vulnerable.
Among other things, the session discussed the procedure for protecting victims of domestic violence and violence against women, assistance to victims, and measures to prevent violence from persons who committed violence, as well as the role of associations and foundations in the protection system and the like.
One of the conclusions will go in the direction of requesting that the responsible ministers for social protection pass by-laws as soon as possible.
Among them, for example, the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy should adopt a special regulation on minimum standards.
Register of safe houses
As planned, safe houses that meet the prescribed minimum standards will be registered in the Central Register of Safe Houses, which will be managed by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.
– This is exactly what we expect the competent federal ministers to do and to have a better implementation of the aforementioned law – said the president of the Commission for Gender Equality of the House of Representatives, Alma Kratina, adding that conclusions have been reached, which will be presented to the public later.
This thematic session in Sarajevo is part of the long-term involvement of the OSCE Mission in BiH in marking 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
It is planned that the Mission will also support the organization of a series of related thematic sessions, with the participation of the working bodies of the Tuzla Canton Assembly, the West Herzegovina Canton Assembly and the Brčko District Assembly of BiH.
At the end of this year’s campaign, the Mission is organizing a strategic dialogue in Banja Luka on December 10, he writes Factor.
