SISTEM SPREČAVANJA NASILJA U PORODICI – Član 16. Istanbulske konvencije –

Abstract

In the context of building an effective system of domestic violence prevention in Serbia, the paper examines the binding standards of Istanbul convention in relation to the current Law on prevention of domestic violence, concerning the programmes of preventive intervention and programmes for work with perpetrators of violence, which are envisaged in Article 16 of Istanbul convention and which aim is taking over responsibility and changing perpetrators’ behavior in order to prevent further violence. The aim of the Law on prevention of domestic violence, as the title of the Law says, is to prevent domestic violence, but in no single provision, does it envisage the treatment of domestic violence perpetrators as a segment in the domestic violence prevention chain, nor mentions working with domestic violence perpetrators. It is not expected from this Law to regulate in general the implementation of therapeutic programmes with perpetrators, but for the Law dealing with “prevention” of violence, at the conceptual level, there is no justification for the omission of programmes for working with perpetrators. Something should be done with the perpetrators of violence, the criminal-legal reaction is assumed, but is not sufficient. The zero tolerance of violence, on which the Law is based, enjoys exceptional popularity in media and political discourse, but domestic violence is not limited to partner violence, it concerns the whole family and most often has a very deep and complex etiology, to which zero tolerance essentially does not reach.