Within the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR, throughout 2016 Praxis will, among others, conduct activities directed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages (CEFM). The main activities will focus on raising awareness of Roma children and parents of potential risks and consequences of CEFM, as well as on advocacy aimed at prevention and elimination of CEFM at the local and national level.

The CEFM in Serbia represent a problem that almost exclusively affects Roma communities, and so far it has been insufficiently and inadequately addressed by competent institutions, often under the pretext that CEFM are part of Roma tradition. In addition to being one of the causes leading to statelessness, the CEFM are also a reflection of patriarchal values and traditional attitudes towards a woman’s role in society and the family, which endanger the mental and physical health of girls, expose them to a greater risk of domestic violence, lead to increased rates of drop-out of school, and later to poverty and their economic dependence on the community. As such, the CEFM represent severe violations of human rights, contrary to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. According to UNICEF’s 2014 MICS, the percentage of girls who entered into marriage before their 15th birthday is 16.9% compared to 0.8% of non-Roma girls, or 57% of Roma girls compared to 6.8% non-Roma girls who entered into marriage before their 18th birthday. However, since the CEFM within the Roma community are predominantly common-law marriages, the real percentage is much higher. In addition, the statistics show that 4% of women have given birth before the age of 15, and even 38% of women aged 20-24 have given birth before the age of 18.

Within this project, which is the continuation of the joint activities of Praxis and UNHCR on CEFM dating back to 2015, four two-day workshops will be held with Roma children and parents in Leskovac and Kostolac, aimed at raising awareness of harmful effects of the CEFM with special attention on sexual and reproductive health, gender perspective, the importance of timely education, and the right to free choice of a spouse. The workshops will be followed by community meetings which will gather all relevant stakeholders at the local level. Along with raising awareness of the local communities about the importance of solving the CEFM issue, a working group will be established and will gather the representatives of Roma community along with experts on child rights and gender equality. Relying on knowledge and information gained at workshops and conclusions of the community meetings, and with analysis of regulations and cases from practice, the working group will prepare a policy brief which will provide recommendations for solving the CEFM issue.

In order to achieve greater visibility of the CEFM issue, the professional and wider public will be regularly informed about Praxis activities aimed at prevention and elimination of the CEFM.

On 5 January 2016, Praxis was visited by 33 students of the University of Hong Kong, members of the World University Service, The University of Hong Kong Branch - WUSHKUB. WUSHKUB scope of activity is focused on promotion of cultural exchange, human rights, current political issues and equal opportunities for all.

The representatives of Praxis presented the situation of human rights in Serbia and problems faced by the most vulnerable groups. The students were especially interested in international relations, gender equality, the situation of Roma and relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

The students presented us the situation of human rights of ethnic minorities and the situation in regard to gender equality in Hong Kong. Specifically, 95% of the population of Hong Kong is Chinese, and 5% ethnic minorities (Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Japanese and Thais). The largest social distance is towards the Indians and Indonesians because of the color of their skin. Also, there are approximately 10,000 refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries whose main problems are inadequate living conditions, lack of food, denial of rights to social protection and employment.

There has been a significant change in the perception of the position of a woman in society in Hong Kong – whereas previously women were generally identified as mothers and carriers of a child, husband and household care role (largely contributed to by the Confucian philosophical tradition in which it is the duty of a woman to be inferior to a man), today the image of an emancipated woman - independent, educated and employed, is prevailing. However, women in Hong Kong are still under-represented in managerial and official's positions, as well as in the bodies of executive power, which is why women are excluded from decision-making processes.

Even though these two countries are on two different continents and at different level of economic development and have different cultural and historical heritage, in an interview with students we came to the conclusion that the problems we face are similar and that it is necessary to further improve the position of women, national minorities, refugees and other marginalized groups, in order to build an equal and tolerant society.

Download: HERE

Download: HERE

Acting upon Praxis’ complaint, the Commissioner for Protection of Equality established that the President of the Municipality of Kanjiza expressed a series of discriminatory views at the press conference held on 12 August 2015, which insulted the dignity of refugees and migrants. A day later, the statement was published on the website of the Municipality of Kanjiza under the name Standpoint of the Local Self-Government towards Migrants.

President of the Municipality of Kanjiza stated, among others, that “these foreigners do not possess the basic elements of common intelligence and culture…”, appealing to citizens to be ready when they are called to express their dissatisfaction. Praxis filed a complaint to the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, stating that this statement causes humiliating and insulting environment for refugees and contributes to spreading of prejudice, bigotry and intolerance. Praxis also noted that this statement has special significance since it is given by the public authority.

The Commissioner for Protection of Equality recommended to the President of the Municipality of Kanjiza to issue a public apology, not to give or publish statements which insult dignity and support prejudices against refugees and to contribute by his acting to reduction of xenophobia, racism and discrimination and increase of tolerance towards refugees. Acting upon the recommendation of the Commissioner, the President of the Municipality of Kanjiza published the apology on the website of the Municipality of Kanjiza, which reflects the efficiency of this anti-discrimination protection mechanism.

The Commissioner’s opinion is important because it reminds the public authorities that they need to be aware of the responsibility for publicly spoken word, as well as of the obligation not to incite bigotry and intolerance in society. 

Kristina Vujic, Praxis legal analyst, presented the "Research on Access to Socio-economic Rights for Roma Women in Serbia", which has been prepared as part of the project entitled Legal Aid and Advocacy – Access to Rights  and  Combating  Discrimination  against  the  Roma, supported by Civil  Rights  Defenders and    Swedish  International Development  Cooperation  Agency.

Watch the video at TV Kopernikus.

On 19 November 2015 in Media Centre in Belgrade, the final conference was held within the project “Empowering Civil Society to Improve the Implementation of Anti-discrimination Laws in Serbia”, implemented by Praxis and Equal Rights Trust (ERT) from London with the support of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, funded by the European Union. On that occasion, the participants pointed at the rights of LGBT persons, Roma, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and at gender equality.

Read the whole statement at thelink.

On 19 November 2015 in Media Centre in Belgrade, the final conference was held within the project “Empowering Civil Society to Improve the Implementation of Anti-discrimination Laws in Serbia”, implemented by Praxis and Equal Rights Trust (ERT) from London with the support of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, funded by the European Union.

Watch the video at RTS.

Within the project “Legal Aid and Advocacy – Access to Rights and Combating Discrimination against the Roma”, implemented by Praxis with the support of Civil Rights Defenders in the period from January 2015 to 31 December, the final roundtable was organized for the representatives of institutions and civil society from ten municipalities in which project activities were carried (Leskovac, Bojnik, Prokuplje, Kursumlija, Bor, Aleksinac, Bela Palanka, Krusevac, Lebane and Knjazevac).

This meeting was preceded by a series of activities aimed at providing an insight into the problems faced by Roma in access to socioeconomic rights and problems in the lack of legal framework and practice. The goal of the meeting was that representatives of all relevant institutions and civil sector in local communities may formulate conclusions and recommendations related to steps that need to be taken in order toe solve the existing problems, through coordinated activities and comprehensive approach to existing problems.

During the project period, over 700 beneficiaries were informed, counseled and provided with legal aid in order to exercise the right to personal documents, permanent and temporary residence, social protection and health care, employment, education and housing. A total of 30 field visits were performed to 53 Roma settlements in order to make legal aid available to a wider range of the most vulnerable beneficiaries. Meetings were held with representatives of relevant institutions in ten municipalities where activities aimed at improving their mutual cooperation and cooperation with civil society organizations were conducted, with an aim to improve the access to socioeconomic rights for Roma. Development and strengthening of this cooperation should provide equal access to justice for Roma, contribute to the quality of provided services and to the improvement of general situation of Roma national minority.

As part of the same project, the Research on access to socioeconomic rights for Roma women in Serbia conducted and published with an aim to provide information about the access of Roma women to health, education, employment, social welfare and housing conditions. The research also deals with gender perspective, examining the situation of Roma women compared to men in the same community. The research was presented to participants of the roundtable and published on Praxis website.  

The results of conducted activities, including identified problems and obstacles and their character, were presented to representatives of local communities at the final roundtable. Together with Praxis team, the participants of the round table took an active part in defining recommendations that will be a guide to local institutions and civil society in finding adequate responses to problems.

A ten-member family S was forcibly relocated from Leskovac to Aleksinac after the fire in which their shack they had lived in for past few years burned down.

The family lost their personal documents in the fire, and therefore Police Department Leskovac inactivated their addresses. The reason for this was the fact that the family did not live at the address where they had their permanent residence registered, and had nowhere to stay in the territory of Leskovac and was thus without an opportunity to register permanent residence at the address of social welfare centre. In addition, CSR Leskovac suspended them the right to cash social assistance declaring that it had no territorial jurisdiction, and due to the fact that one member of the family had permanent residence registered in the Municipality of Aleksinac, CSR organized their relocation. Due to the lack of adequate cooperation between competent institutions and insufficient capacities at their disposal, the family S did not receive adequate reception in the new community. It is important to emphasize that the family had not been consulted in regard to whether they wanted to move to Aleksinac, which is contrary to all international standards.

The family has been residing for several months already in one room without basic living conditions, given to them by a relative, which endangers their health. With the help of SWC Aleksinac, the procedures for registration of permanent residence were initiated and are still ongoing. In the meantime, none of the family members has an ID card, four children interrupted their regular education, and they will be able to exercise their right to social protection only when they register permanent residence and obtain ID cards.

The case of this family shows all deficiencies of the social protection system. The state of social needs in which this family has been for long has worsened severely and led the family into the problem of multiple social exclusion. Now, the way out of this situation is far more complex, the consequences suffered by the family members unforeseeable and damage is irreparable.