OSCE Mission to Montenegro joins “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” global campaign

On 25 November, on the International Day against Violence against Women, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro joins the global “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” with a television campaign that encourages people to take action to prevent and combat domestic violence. This continues until 10 December, the International Human Rights Day.

The video, produced in partnership with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights is designed to raise public awareness on the different forms violence against women and girls. Violence against women and girls affects families, communities, workplaces and societies in general. It manifests in a variety of forms that largely go unreported. Silence and stigma surrounds it, makes it one of most pervasive human rights violation.

The evidence is clear, as found in a recent survey commissioned by the Mission where a third of women respondents said that they had experienced at least one form of psychological violence and over half did not report it, while only a third turned to family and friends. Psychological violence often precedes physical. A disturbing fact was that one third of the respondents believed that women and girls make false claims of psychological violence to draw attention to themselves.

Domestic violence should not be hidden, minimized or ignored. The first step to end violence against women and girls is to trust survivors and encourage reporting. Montenegro has the legislative framework to protect citizens. It needs to be implemented. Neither society nor institutions should remain silent in the face of human rights violations.

Even though it is widespread, domestic violence can be eliminated. Therefore, the video encourages everyone to take action to prevent and combat violence .

Violence can be stopped. Let’s stop it together. LET’S REACT!