SARAJEVO, APRIL 5 (ONASA) – The response to domestic violence and gender-based violence, including violence against women, requires systemic changes and purposeful and proactive engagement of decision-makers and competent institutions at all levels of government.
Today’s first joint session of the commission of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the institutional response to domestic violence and violence against women was an important step in that direction.
The joint thematic session on the institutional response to domestic violence was organized in cooperation with four competent parliamentary commissions: the commissions for gender equality of both houses of the Parliament of the Federation, the Commission for Security of the House of Representatives, and the Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the Federation. With the support of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this joint initiative is a reflection of the determination of domestic and international institutions to improve the institutional response to cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence.
– We must not take the progress achieved in the sphere of gender equality lightly. We must not falter in the fight for a fairer and more equal world. This concerns all of us, because the security of society is not possible if we are all safe and protected and if domestic violence and gender-based violence are not eradicated – said, after the joint session, the head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Brian Aggeler.
Conclusions from the thematic session were proposed, which will be the subject of discussion and consideration in the committees in the coming weeks.
– The Gender Center of the Federation of BiH is tasked with preparing and submitting to the Parliament of the Federation of BiH an overview of the recommendations of the Committee of Signatories to the Council of Europe Convention and the Committee of Experts GREVIO and plans for their implementation in the FBiH.
The Parliament of the Federation of BiH should urgently adopt a strategy for the prevention and prevention of domestic violence in 2024 – 2027 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as an umbrella strategic document for strengthening the institutional response to domestic violence and violence against women.
The Government of the FBiH should prepare and submit to the Parliament of the FBiH a revised legal framework for protection against domestic violence and violence against women, aligned with international conventions, as a matter of urgency.
The Gender Center of the Government of FBiH should establish a half-yearly coordination between domestic and international institutions and organizations, in connection with activities on the implementation of the strategy for the prevention and prevention of domestic violence in 2024-2027, and the recommendation of the Committee of Experts GREVIO.
The four commissions of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will organize, during 2024, two more joint thematic sessions on the topic of the judiciary’s response to domestic violence, and comprehensive support for victims, including victims from vulnerable groups – these are the conclusions of the joint thematic session on the institutional response to violence in the family, it was reported from the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina