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SOZM
A law is needed for family violence protection
Ninety-five women civil society organizations asked for a special law to be passed for family violence protection, thus supporting the NSDP proposal for regulating this matter with a new law. “It is necessary to pass a separate law that would contain regulations as a solid basis for protecting the victims of violence, reducing the violence in the family, supporting the victims and clear procedures for persecuting the perpetrators”, said Savka Todorovska from SOZM at the press-conference on that occasion.
The women CSOs support the passing of a separate law instead of changing the existing Law for Family and the Criminal Rulebook. One of the priority tasks Macedonia has, they consider at SOZM, is adjusting the legislative regarding the protection from family violence to the EU regulations. Therefore they are quoting the Recommendation (2002) of the Council of Europe, as well as the Recommendations of the UN CEDAW Convention and the experiences of Serbia, Croatia, Belgium, France and France which incorporate a special law for family violence protection. The women CSOs remind on the activities they have implemented in the past, which contributed to improving the condition of women – victims of family violence. As an example, they mentioned the opening of the first SOS-Line for women and children - victims of family violence in 1992, the opened protection centers as well as the changes in the laws.
The members of the Commission for equal opportunities of men and women exchanged their opinions as well. They decided that a special working group works on the problem of family violence in the country. Discussing the NSDP proposal for passing a law for family violence protection, the Commission members held different opinions. The State Secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Dusko Minovski, thinks that there is a need of passing a law for family violence and it is not a taboo. He said that the centers for social work need specialization and that the victims of violence need bigger protection. Some members of the Commission are not pleased with the current NSDP proposal, since it treats the family violence as a violation and not a criminal act.
Z.Gj.
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