Violence against women and domestic violence in relation to the Istanbul Convention
Author | Vesna Simovic-Zvicer |
Pages | 70-76 |
70
10Violence against women and domestic violence in relation to the Istanbul
Convention
10.1General (legal) context
10.1.1Surveys and reports on issues of violence against women and domestic violence
According to the UNDP research conducted within the IPA 2010 programme, 65.8 % of
women in Montenegro are experiencing some form of violence by their spouses and/or
partners. In the last five years there has been a significant increase in the number of
reported cases of domestic violence, which indicates the visibility of the phenomena itself
and the improvement of a framework that encourages victims to report perpetrators and
take steps to leave the violent situation. For example, in 2009 there were 481 reported
cases; while in 2014 there were 1 249 cases, according to the official reports.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the number of murders of women, most often a wife or
partner, has increased, and these are commonly committed by persons who have been
reported and brought in more often due to domestic violence.82
The basic report of the Group of Experts on Combating Violence against Women and
Domestic Violence (GREVIO) for Montenegro from 2018 contains a systematic assessment
of the measures taken by the national authorities in Montenegro with regard to all aspects
of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Violence against
Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention). The GREVIO committee notes
that the greatest attention in legislation and policymaking is devoted to domestic violence,
and that measures that deal with other forms of violence against women have yet to
achieve the same level of comprehensiveness, in particular on issues of forced marriage,
rape and persecution. The report notes that the committee is concerned that despite the
introduction of standardised procedures provided for in the Protocol on the Treatment,
Prevention and Protection against Domestic Violence, and extensive training efforts, law
enforcement officials, judges and social workers, by their attitudes and prejudices,
diminish the significance of violence, violating the trust of women in the authorities in
charge of the prevention and protection of this offence.83
According to the Annual Report on the Work of Minor Offences Courts in the area of the
Law on Domestic Violence Protection in 2019, the courts had 2 059 cases (1 972 in 2018
and 1 790 in 2017), of which 1 220 were dealt with by the misdemeanour court in
Podgorica, 485 by the misdemeanour court in Budva and 354 cases by the magistrate
court in Bijelo Polje. Of these cases, 1 487 cases were completed (1 563 in 2018 and 1 366
cases in 2017) or 72.22 %, of which 814 were in the misdemeanour court in Podgorica,
402 were in the misdemeanour court in Budva, and 271 were heard by the misdemeanour
court in Bijelo Polje. The cases were completed as follows: 534 fines (521 in 2018 and 443
in 2017), 121 prison sentences, 238 suspended sentences, 109 reminders, 15 educational
measures, 13 cases were rejected, in 51 cases the procedure was stopped, in 360 cases
the acquittal was passed, while 46 cases were resolved in a different way. In addition, 438
protective measures were imposed (408 in 2018 and 302 in 2017), including: removal
from an apartment or other living space –69; prohibition of access –134; prohibition of
harassment and arrest – 175; compulsory psychiatric treatment and addiction treatment
– 31; compulsory psychosocial treatment –22 (8 in 2018); and referred to an educational
institution –3.
82 Montenegro Government (2017) Plan of activities for achieving gender equality in Montenegro (2017-
2021), available at: http://www.mmp.gov.me/en/library/strategije?alphabet=lat.
83 GREVIO (2018) Baseline Evaluation Report on legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions
of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (Istanbul Convention) Montenegro, available at: https://rm.coe.int/grevio-
reportmontenegro/16808e5614?fbclid=IwAR2VBn5O235bINHaGMhDo054E-
7vi4pL691uFy0LEm9MEhxNRkdSPn27Dww.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeUnlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
