UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report Annex:
The new Law on Public Assembly came into force in February 2016, harmonized with contemporary standards of police work in the field of public assembly, and supporting the law to the freedom of peaceful assembly, emphasizing this right under Article 2 of the Law.
All prosecutors’ offices, under their regular competence and with the aim of protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms, act on criminal reports of violations prescribed by the Criminal Code. Endangerment of security as per Article 138 of the CC, as well as Racial and other discrimination as per Article 387 of the CC incriminate violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms based on differences in race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnicity or another personal characteristic.
Aiming to assess the need for potential preventive measures for the prevention of violence, incitement to violence and online hate speech, supervision was implemented over groups on social networks known for previous cases of displeasure with the organization and holding of the Pride Parade.
Members of the police took part in several meetings organized on the topic of improving the status of the LGBTI community. Measures and activities have been implemented regarding the safety of sexually diverse persons, further activities were considered in this field with representatives of 15 non-government organizations working on the protection of the rights of sexually diverse persons, the Ombudsman, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality and representative of the Negotiation Team.
Aiming for a safe “Pride Parade 2014” public event, good cooperation was achieved with the representatives of the organizational committee of this event. After successful preparations the above event passed safely, along with numerous events held as part of Pride Week 2014. Pride and the first gathering of trans* persons were held on 20 September 2015.
One of the priorities in 2016 was the status of trans* persons in society and the walk through the centre of Belgrade, held on 25 June 2016, passed without incident and with minimum security. The third Pride Parade was successfully organized on 18 September 2016, with attendees including representatives of international organizations and state institutions. The International Day against Homophobia was celebrated not only in Belgrade, but also Niš, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar, Subotica, Pančevo and Kragujevac.
The Pride weekend and Pride Parade were held on 23-25 June 2017.
In February 2014 the Ministry of the Interior adopted an Action plan for improving the work and cooperation of the police with representatives and associations working on the improvement of the status of LGBTI persons, with the aim of developing and improving community police work, particularly under the segment of training development, action and cooperation of police officers with representatives of associations of sexually diverse persons. The Action Plan was fully implemented, with the key activities being the appointment of a liaison officer for the LGBTI population, the development of a Manual for Police Work with the LGBTI population and training of police officers.
Employees of the Ministry and police have the obligation of equal treatment towards all regardless of their racial, sexual or national affiliation, their diversity stemming from social origin, birth, religion, political or other belief or affiliation, gender and gender identity, property, culture, language, age or psychological or physical disability (Article 5 of the Law on Police).
The Special Prosecutor’s Office for High-Tech Crime is the recipient of criminal reports of criminal offences of Endangering Security as per Article 138 of the CC committed against members of the LGBTI community.
The Special Prosecution for High-Tech Crime has established successful cooperation with members of the LGBTI community and relevant organizations during previous years.
Representatives of the LGBTI community and relevant organizations participate in criminal proceedings as victims/witnesses.
The service for informing victims and witnesses at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade started working on 10 April 2014.
In 2015 the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Victimological Association of Serbia, to provide the necessary assistance and support to victims and witnesses.
A number of specialized staff trainings have been held at the Service for informing victims and witnesses, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia, along with specialized trainings of deputies in higher public prosecutor’s offices regarding support to victims and witnesses.

National Report:
Para 45) All government officials publicly condemned all assaults on LGBT persons and attacks on Roma. All forms of violence, discriminatory behaviour and graffiti with hate speech prompted a public reaction in both print and electronic media, in addition to the prosecution of the perpetrators of such acts.

UN Compilation:
Para 13) … The UN country team asserted that, regarding the recommendations made during the previous review on the right to peaceful assembly of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, Belgrade had successfully held annual pride events in three consecutive years (2014-2016).

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 20) CoE stated that CoE-Commissioner, while acknowledging the progress made in advancing the rights of LGBTI persons, noted that homophobia and discrimination.

National Report Annex:
Starting from the obligations of the state provided for by the Istanbul Convention as well as the measures provided for in the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for the Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, CBGE initiated the adoption of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Suppression of Domestic and Intimate Partnership Violence against Women and Girls for the period 2017-2020. For the analysis of the previous strategy and development of a new one, as well as for the implementation of numerous awareness-raising activities, the necessary funding was provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) within the project "Integrated Response to Violence against Women and Girls II". The project began in July 2016 and will last until July 2018, with a total value of $ 940,000. The project has been implemented in cooperation with all UN agencies in Serbia and relevant line ministries. Its implementation will contribute to the further development of the social and institutional environment in Serbia with zero tolerance for violence.
In order to encourage women to report cases of domestic and sexual violence by raising awareness about the criminal nature of such actions, the Ministry of Justice organized a national media campaign of raising awareness called "Off Violence".
The Provincial Secretariat for Health Care, in partnership with the Women's Support Centre from Kikinda, has been implementing a three-year project, "Stop - Protect - Help", since January 2016. The project is intended for women in the situation of violence and potential victims, professionals in all sectors at all levels of authority, women's organizations and the entire population on the territory of the province.
The Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence provides for mandatory specialized training for representatives of the competent authorities (police, public prosecution, court). The training program is prepared by the Judicial Academy which also conducts training of judges, public prosecutors and deputy public prosecutors, while the training of competent police officers is conducted by the Criminal Police Academy. From February to May 2017, 410 police officers from 27 police departments and from the MoI headquarters were trained.
Within the Republic Institute for Social Protection, several training programs on the topic of domestic violence have been accredited, which are intended for professional workers employed in social protection institutions (CSW and institutions for accommodation of beneficiaries).

UN Compilation:
Para 56) The UN country team noted that girls and women in Serbia were still frequently exposed to gender-based violence, such as violence in family and partner relationships, sexual harassment and rape.
Para 57) The UN country team noted the adoption in 2016 of a law on the prevention of domestic violence, as well as amendments to provisions of the Criminal Code on rape and related non-consensual sex, stalking, sexual harassment, forced marriage and genital mutilation.
Para 58) CEDAW remained concerned about the increasing number of women murdered by their husbands, ex-husbands or partners and the significant disparity among the number of police interventions, the number of criminal charges filed and the number of persons convicted of domestic violence against women.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 8) POC stated that the protection of women against violence was not efficient enough.
Para 58) JS4 underscored the high number of women murdered in the context of domestic and intimate partner violence. It asserted that the State had no system for monitoring and analysing this phenomenon, a new National Strategy to prevent all forms of violence against women 2016-2020 had not been adopted, and a systematic approach to combatting stereotypes and discrimination of women, promotion of gender equality and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in the education system, had not been established.