Construction of Safe House begins in southeastern district

Construction of Safe House begins in southeastern district

The building will have an area of ​​350 square meters and will serve victims of domestic violence from the municipalities of the Pčinj District. It is planned for the facility to receive between 20 and 25 persons at a time, and will have a playing area for children and a room for persons with disabilities.

The building of the Safe House in Vranjska Banja is the result of cooperation between the U.S. embassy in Belgrade, ​​the B92 Fund, and the local government. The corner stone was laid by U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby.

Ambassador Kirby said in his address that the project was a good example of cooperation between the U.S. government, the local community and the B92 Fund and pointed out that the military command of U.S. forces in Europe would set aside USD 213,000 for the construction of this facility.

The initiative to build a safe house in this southernmost district of Serbia came from the B92 Fund. It is the sixth such facility built by the Fund as a part of its project against domestic violence.

"It is as if the events during the May Day holidays involving the brutal murder of a woman with an ax are reiterating in an increasing volume, and the statistics keep talking about increasing violence, mainly against women and children. And here in Vranje during the May Day holidays, this trend is evident according to the data from the health care workers," B92 Fund Director Veran Matić said during the ceremony.

Deputy Mayor of Vranje Dragoljub Stevanović said that the Safe House would be a place where women will be empowered and supported to overcome the victim role and added to the project has multiple dimensions for the local community.

The Vranje project aims to provide first aid for victims of domestic violence, who will work on the surrounding property, modeled on the safe house in Sombor - the concept of sustainable organic food production on the land near the building.

The Safe House will be built in accordance with European standards, and the entire facility will be heated using the hot water from the well in Vranjska Banja (Spa).

Matić also stressed that this project is important for raising awareness and increasing engagement in order to create conditions to reduce domestic violence, but also to respect the law to the letter:

"It is absolutely necessary to change the behavior, primarily of the judiciary which does not remove the perpetrator from the apartment, but instead the woman and the children must leave him. Then, the abuser is usually allowed to be free while defending himself, and the process takes a long time, so he could repeat the crime. And even when it comes to the ruling, it is usually reduced to a minimum or below minimum sentence. These abusers are encouraged to continue to commit violence, but at the same time encouraging potential abusers, once they see that the policy of (non)punishment stimulates violence."

He added that it has been a very common practice, also in Vranje, that women who experienced domestic violence are placed in psychiatric wards of hospitals in the absence of safe houses, which further stigmatized them, but also complicated their position in the court proceedings.

During this year, the Fund will build the seventh safe house - in Sremska Mitrovica. It will be intended for the victims of domestic violence the Srem District, and its construction will complete the network of safe houses in Vojvodina.

Meanwhile, a campaign against domestic violence produced by the B92 Fund and Saatchi & Saatchi has won numerous international and national awards, and was recently in the finals of four categories of the New York Advertising Festival.