Montenegro: GREVIO’s (Baseline) Evaluation Report. Concluding remarks

261. GREVIO welcomes the many steps taken by the Montenegrin authorities, since its independence in 2006, to align its laws and policies with international standards in the area of promoting gender equality and combating violence against women. More specifically, a range of targeted efforts supported by and in co-operation with the international community present in Montenegro, have led to significant achievements in implementing many of the requirements of the Istanbul Convention. 

262. GREVIO recognises the political willingness displayed by the authorities in Montenegro to intensify the level of compliance with the Istanbul Convention and notes the high level of technical and financial support to this effect provided by intergovernmental organisations and international donors. It welcomes the extensive range of research projects, technical assistance and capacitybuilding exercises in areas of relevance to the Convention, past and present, and carried out and/or funded by the international community. While GREVIO is mindful of the varying economic circumstances of state parties to the Convention and that progress can only be achieved over time, it recalls that the obligation to implement conventional requirements lies with the state party. Essential policies, measures and services must therefore be allocated appropriate state funding. Although some steps are being taken by the Montenegrin authorities to this extent (for example the 50% funding for the new national helpline on domestic violence), many important measures, including the Strategy on Protection from Domestic Violence, do not seem to receive any funding from the government. Almost all NGOs providing essential services for victims of domestic violence are still funded by international donors. The limited financial support available from public funds is further being reduced following the recent changes to the Law on Non-Governmental Organisations. New and more sustainable funding opportunities for the existing women’s specialist support services are not envisaged, despite the evident need to close gaps in terms of their geographical distribution and the forms of violence currently addressed. 

263. While a number of women’s support services exist for victims of domestic violence, these are not readily available in rural areas, and the existing domestic violence shelters are usually filled to capacity. Moreover, GREVIO notes with concern that there are no services for victims of rape and sexual violence nor are there any counselling services and shelters for women and girls fleeing forced marriage. 

264. Regarding the legislative framework in the area of violence against women, GREVIO welcomes the adoption of the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention (LDVP) but notes that it predates the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention in Montenegro and that a number of issues prevail regarding its effective implementation. While it introduces important concepts called for by the Istanbul Convention, such as that of multi-agency co-operation and emergency barring and protection orders, it sets out extremely low sanctions for domestic violence. Introduced with a view to ensuring higher rates of reporting of domestic violence, most domestic violence cases are now prosecuted as misdemeanour offences under the LDVP instead of criminal offences. Criminal convictions are thus rare, and cases prosecuted under the LDVP usually lead to fines or suspended sentences. Incoherence in applying the two parallel legislative frameworks (the LDVP and the Criminal Code) is widespread. At the same time, efforts made by law enforcement agencies and prosecution services to investigate into, record and fully assess the history of abuse that victims experience at the hands of their abusers are low, leaving many incidents of domestic violence unaccounted for. Victims frequently feel disillusioned with the outcome of cases, and there is a widespread tendency among all relevant professionals to encourage victims to reconcile instead of pursuing criminal justice.

265. Such tendencies seem to be the result of generally low levels of awareness of the gendered dimension of domestic violence (as well as those of the other forms of violence covered by the Convention). It is not viewed as a manifestation of unequal power relations between men and women but is frequently linked to alcohol addiction, personality disorders or poverty of the perpetrator. Efforts must be stepped up to address such assumptions and attitudes, in particular where they exist among front-line professionals. GREVIO notes the wide range of training and capacity-building initiatives around domestic violence organised by a variety of actors in the past, and thus calls for a more practical approach involving on-the-job training, training based on protocols and guidelines and incentive schemes to ensure real and lasting change. 

266. Lastly, GREVIO points to the need to ensure higher levels of awareness, sensitisation and capacity-building not only in relation to domestic violence, but in relation to all forms of genderbased violence covered by the Convention, particularly in relation to sexual violence, including rape. This seems to be an area surrounded by taboos as reporting rates for sexual violence are extremely low. 

267. With a view to facilitating the implementation of its suggestions and proposals, GREVIO requests the Montenegrin authorities to translate this report into their official national language(s) and to ensure that it is widely disseminated, not only to the relevant state institutions at all levels (national, regional and local), in particular to the government, the ministries and the judiciary, but also to NGOs and other civil society organisations which work in the field of violence against women. 

https://rm.coe.int/grevio-report-montenegro/16808e5614