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Eight Minutes of Silence for Eight Femicide Victims in Serbia: "System Fails to Protect Women"
๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia /Culture & Society

Eight Minutes of Silence for Eight Femicide Victims in Serbia: "System Fails to Protect Women"

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Activists in Novi Sad, Serbia, held an eight-minute silence to mark the deaths of eight women killed by their partners this year.
  • Speakers highlighted that the state system fails to protect women, with three femicides occurring in the past ten days.
  • The group criticized the sensationalist sharing of a victim's murder video on social media and the spread of lies about victims in tabloids.

In Novi Sad, Serbia, the activist group "Women for Change" observed an eight-minute silence to commemorate the eight women who have been victims of femicide in Serbia this year. The activists stressed that each new femicide represents a failure of the state and society, noting that three such killings have occurred in the last ten days alone.

Every new femicide is a new defeat for both the state and society. Every new femicide proves that the system does not protect women who need protection. And every femicide carries the same message: that institutions only react when it is too late.

โ€” Maja Vasiฤ‡An activist speaking at the protest in Novi Sad, highlighting systemic failures in protecting women.

Maja Vasiฤ‡, an activist speaking at the protest, emphasized that the system consistently fails to protect women in need of assistance. "Every new femicide is a new defeat for both the state and society," she stated. "Every new femicide proves that the system does not protect women who need protection. And every femicide carries the same message: that institutions only react when it is too late."

How many more of us must be killed for something to truly change?

โ€” Maja Vasiฤ‡An activist questioning the lack of effective change in addressing femicide.

Vasiฤ‡ also condemned the disturbing spread of a murder video on social media, which captured the final moments of a victim near Bor. She described the sharing of this footage as a "sensationalist" act that violates the victim's dignity and amounts to a "repeated murder by other means." The group reiterated that victims are not responsible for the violence they suffer, placing blame solely on the perpetrators.

This is not only a violation of a woman's dignity, it is a repeated murder by other means.

โ€” Maja Vasiฤ‡Describing the impact of sharing a victim's murder video on social media.

The protest concluded with a clear message: "Women are not responsible for the violence they have suffered! Only the perpetrator is responsible!" The article also noted that authorities have not yet responded to inquiries about how the video was leaked. The most recent victims include a 31-year-old woman from near Bor, a 28-year-old Russian national in Borฤa, and a 52-year-old woman in Novi Beograd, who was killed by her own brother.

Women are not responsible for the violence they have suffered! Only the perpetrator is responsible!

โ€” ProtestorsThe concluding message of the rally in Novi Sad.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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