The National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in partnership with the Women’s Parliamentarian Club of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia organized a panel discussion on the topic “Draft-Model for Reintegration and Rehabilitation of Women-Victims of Domestic Violence” held today, 25 November – the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women which also marked the start of the global campaign “16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence against Women”.
The event was opened by the President of the Women’s Parliamentarian Club of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia. Gjulumser Kasapi, who talked about the importance of all relevant actors coming together to end violence against women and girls and underlined the commitment of the Women’s Parliamentarian Club to the promotion of the system for prevention and protection from violence against women.
The panel discussion was opened with a presentation of the findings from the analysis “Economic challenges faced by women-victims of domestic violence who want to leave the violent environment” and the “Draft-model for reintegration and rehabilitation of women-victims of domestic violence” developed by the National Network to End Violence against Women.
Among the speakers at the panel discussion were Snezhana Kaleska Vancheva – MP from SDSM, Blagica Lasovska – MP from VMRO-DPMNE, Julijana Nikolova – MP from LDP and Maja Morachanin – MP from DOM. The aim was to review and discuss the legal possibilities for adoption of the model for rehabilitation and reintegration of women-victims of domestic violence who have decided to leave the violent environment.
The need for conducting the analysis and developing the draft-model for reintegration stems from the acknowledgment that the economic instability of women-victims of domestic violence has been recognized as one of the main reasons why victims stay in the violent environment, and also as one of the biggest challenges faced by women-victims after they leave the violent environment.
The last OSCE research on the Balkan region from 2018 included North Macedonia. The key findings from the research indicate that 60% of women-victims of IPV were controlled by the perpetrator, had little or restricted access to finances, and their children were used as a means of blackmailing them against leaving their partner. Of all the women-respondents, 1 in 5 or 19% were victims of economic violence by their partner. Women who had suffered domestic violence in the past but were in no position to leave the violent environment because they were unable to provide for themselves and their children have experienced recurrent violence in various forms in the last 12 months (42%).
Considering the different economic circumstances in the Republic of Macedonia, measures and policies are needed for the women-victims of violence who are economically dependent on the perpetrators to be able to more easily make the decision of leaving the violent environment and start the process of social reintegration.
The draft-model for reintegration and rehabilitation includes all aspects which are key to making the decision to leave the violent environment, such as: housing, financial support, psychological counseling, education and training and employment assistance.
The event was organized as part of the Project “Advocating for Adoption of Social Package for Support of the Victims of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence” implemented by the National Network to End violence against Women and Domestic Violence and financed by the sub-granting program of the project “Strategic Partnership to Develop Social Agenda for Change: Recognize, Respect and Realize Rights” financed by the EU and implemented by the Association for Action Against Violence and Human Trafficking Open Gate: La Strada.
