Overall assessment

• Author: Vesna Simovic-Zvicer
• Pages: 84-86

84

12 Overall assessment

The following specific transposition problems were mentioned in this report:

1. Statistical evidence has n ot b een used to establish a presumption of indirect sex

discrimination.

2. Only a small number of women participate in the legislative and executive authorities

in Montenegro.

3. Harassment and sexual harassm ent, although regulated by the Labour Law, are

difficult to prove in practice.

4. The unemployment rate among women in the north is seven times higher than in

the south an d three times higher than in the central region. More than half of

unemployed women in rural areas have never tried to find a job.

5. In Montenegr o, there are many difficulties in relation to women’s access to work,

vocational train ing, employment, working conditions, etc. Especially in t he private

sector, women are very much discriminated against concerning access to work if

they are planning a family and motherhood.

6. Occupational social secu rity schemes have n ot yet been recognised in Montenegro.

There are only provisions in the Labour Law on the prohibition of discrimination in

relation to professional social security systems.

In 2019, the anti-discrimination legislative framework of Montenegro is very mu ch in

accordance with the EU gender equality acquis. However, there are still aspects that need

to be fully harmonised with the acquis and improved.

Positive measures ar e defined very ext ensively in many laws, as explained above. Some

legislative solutions are more favourable for female workers, such a s the duration of

maternity and paternity leave and leave for childcare and caring for a child with a disability.

On the other hand, the living standard and salaries are low, so fewer and fewer women

use the full legal duration of their maternity leave. Al so, it is not possible to use the

maternity leave in a piecemeal fashion or part time.

Although Montenegro has demonstrated a degree of success in harmonising its law with

the EU standards, there are still some gaps in the existing legislation. For example, there

are no relevant provisions in some important areas, such as self-employment, occupational

social security, etc. In addition, surrogacy is still not defined or all owed in Montenegro.

The aforementioned acts, specially the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, together with

the Law on Gende r Equality, supported the si gnificant improvement of the normative

framework in the field of gender equality, as well as its harmonisation with international

standards. However, in spite of the establishment of an acceptable legislative and

institutional framework, the posit ion of women in Montenegro is still unsatisfactory, as

indicated by the number of cases of gender-based violence, the overall economic power

of women, and their underrepresentation in governing posts, representative bodi es and

other areas where policies are created and implemented.

On the other hand, there is a gap between the legislative framework and the

implementation of the legislation. Bearing in mind the modest number of cases reported

to the Ombudsman concernin g gender equality rights, as well as the fact that no single

case on multiple discrimination or indirect discrimination has been reported or ruled on so

far, it is to be concluded that there is a lot to be done to secure actual progress in gender

equality in Montenegro. Furthermore, only cas es of gender violence and, rarely, m obbing

are subject to court rulings, most of them in connection with misdemeanours. Given that

the mechanism of the shifting of the burden of proof has not been adequately and equally

applied in civil proceedings, as well as the fact that the notion of victimisation is still new,

even for law enforcement officers, it can be conclud ed that gender equality awareness