Study Reveals Grim Statistics on Women’s Rights in Serbia

Although Serbia adopted important laws and policies in the field of gender equality, key mechanisms for their implementation are still missing thus keeping women underrepresented in almost all areas of life, concludes new study on women’s rights in the country developed with the support of UN Women.

Every two weeks one woman in Serbia is killed in her own home and by her partner; men earn 14.4 per cent more than women on average; every third adolescent girl from Roma settlements is pregnant or already has children; and there is only one gynecologist for every 5,812 women.

These are only few of many grim findings of the study on women's rights in Serbia entitled Prenerazena (in English: Shocked) which was published and presented to the public on 19 March by women’s civil society organisation Femplatz. The study, which was developed with the support of UN Women in Serbia within the EU-funded Gender Equality Facility programme, analyses the situation of women in the country in 2023 in many different areas: from education and work to violence and health.

Opening the conference, Biljana Janjic, executive director of Femplatz, said that the study will make everyone feel discouraged as there was no progress detected in the past five years except some legislation changes. "We can say that adoption of few laws tackling gender equality and women's rights is a step forward, but this failed to bring any substantial changes on the ground when it comes to the situation of women in our country," stressed Biljana. 

She continued saying that even stagnation which was detected in various areas of life can lead to and be interpreted as regression "especially in the light of backlash against women's rights we are witnessing".

The special focus of this study was on rural women who are often facing the risk of multiple discrimination. According to Kosana Beker, programme director of Femplatz, there was limited data or research available on rural women and they thus had to rely on their work in the field and conduct focus groups. 

The situation of rural women in the country was perhaps best described by one of the focus group participants: “I get up at five, go to bed at 10 in the evening for the past 20 years. I work in a small company, then I get home to work in the field, in the garden and in the kitchen (…) Male members of the family don't do anything in the kitchen and they don’t do the laundry (…) There is no Saturday or Sunday...”

Nevena Marceta, programme manager with UN Women, added that rural women are denied access to numerous basic services and are facing various forms of discrimination and violence. She however noted that through many years of experience supporting and working with rural women, “we have become aware of their enormous potential, strength, and significant role in the community.” 

“They are the ones who started the online market in order to be able to sell their products during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are the ones who, despite the working day of 12 or more hours, find time to attend new trainings, acquire new skills such as digital ones, and run local communities in periods of crisis,” said Nevena.

She added that UN Women will continue working with is partners from the Government and women’s organisations on advancement of women’s rights, with special focus on marginalized groups such as rural women.