Those reported and convicted of domestic violence would, in addition to the ban on approaching the victim, receive an electronic bracelet with a GPS signal in order to monitor whether these bans are being followed.
At least that is the idea of Ana Oreg, MP of the Movement of Free Citizens, which she sent to the Assembly.
Namely, the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence foresees a measure of banning access to the victim, but this often remains a dead letter.
"The MUP has no way to track that person, and we know that the ban is often violated in Serbia." "Femicides are mostly committed by people who have a restraining order," says Oreg in an interview with "Vreme". That is why he should change that law.
In the last ten years, they have mostly been former or current partners in Serbia killed hundreds of women. On average, a crime called femicide occurs every two weeks.
Successful implementation in Western Europe
Oreg is now proposing to give bullies an electronic bracelet, similar to a nanoleg, along with a restraining order.
"Thus, the MUP could follow that person, but also offer the victim of violence the opportunity to follow the person's movements if they get too close." Of course, if the victim wants it, because that would mean that she also has to have a GPS device."
As this member of parliament says, it is a regional initiative that is being launched simultaneously in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
"I was inspired by the examples of Spain, Portugal and France, where the number of murders of women has dropped by 70 to 80 percent since this kind of monitoring has been in place," continues Oreg.
He says the supervision would only last as long as the restraining order lasts. When asked if the right to privacy of a person who would be put under surveillance is under attack, Oreg says: "I have no empathy for bullies. If the measure prevents even one femicide, we would have done a great thing."
Will SNS agree?
There is a long history of opposition initiatives to change the law, but there is almost no precedent for the ruling majority in the Assembly ever accepting anything.
Oreg says that even this time she did not try to contact her fellow MPs from SNS in advance in order to possibly submit a proposal together. "I don't have those channels of communication." I submitted to the regular procedure," she says.
However, he hopes that the government will see that the proposal is "above politics" and set a "precedent" and adopt this opposition initiative.
"Now I specifically appealed to the outgoing Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who is the future President of the Assembly, to show that the public interest is more important than the party interest, given that this is a regional initiative."
"It would be an ugly message if the initiative passed in, say, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but not in Serbia because of petty political points," adds Oreg for "Vreme".
