Over\nthe past 12 months, the Republic of North Macedonia received recommendations\nfrom three international instruments based on the prepared and delivered\nreports on the progress and the reforms achieved by the country in the respective\narea of reporting; however, this report will focus on the progress in the area\nof gender-based violence. Namely, recommendations were received by the European\nCommission on the country`s progress in the period March 2018-March 2019, from\nthe United Nations following the submittal of the UPR (the Universal Periodic\nReview) for a period of five years (2013-2017) and from the Committee on the Elimination\nof All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for a period of 5 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ngeneral conclusion is that although the country has noted progress in this\narea, albeit minor and mostly regarding improvement of the legal framework, the\nsituation with regard to direct assistance and protection of women-victims of\ndomestic violence remains unchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namely, all three reports recognize\nand welcome the steps the country has undertaken for improving the legislation\nthrough the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and\ncombating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul\nConvention), including the preparation and adoption of the National Action Plan\nfor its implementation (2018-2023). Furthermore, the adoption of the National\nAction Plan for Gender Equality (2018-2020), one chapter of which is dedicated\nto gender-based violence, as well as the measures undertaken for raising\nawareness about gender equality and eradicating gender prejudices and\nstereotypes as one of the most significant reasons behind the violence against\nwomen, have also been recognized as progress. Additionally, the improvements\ninclude the amendments to the Criminal Code which stipulate increasing the\nminimum age for common-law marriages from 16 to 18 years, including the changes\nin the definition of the criminal offence \u201chate speech\u201d by recognizing\ngender-identity as one of the grounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All three reports express concern\nabout certain aspects and give recommendations for follow-up in the upcoming\nperiod. One of the main remarks refers to the slow pace of implementing changes\nand to the need for prioritizing this area and undertaking urgent measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In terms of improving the legal framework, the\nmain remark refers to the unrecognized forms of violence against women and\ngirls, and the obstacles women are faced with in getting solutions for\ntemporary protection. More specifically, this refers to the\nprotraction and postponement of court proceedings for issuing temporary\nmeasures, the absence of a gender-sensitive\napproach during the proceedings and the absence of mechanisms for monitoring of\ntheir conduct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The absence of a comprehensive system for data\ncollection, segregated by relevant factors, regarding various forms of\ngender-based violence, including information about the perpetrator-victim\nrelation, has been noted as a shortcoming not only in these reports, but also\nin many analyses conducted in this field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Insufficient number of\nspecialized serviced for assisting women and girls victims of gender-based\nviolence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo meet the standards of the\nIstanbul Convention, there will be a need for additional shelters for victims\nof sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking. The Department for\nGender Equality within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy shall play a key\ncoordinative role and must have the appropriate resources in order to ensure\nefficient implementation of the legal and political tools\u201d \u2013 European\nCommission. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The CEDAW Committee notes that \u201cThere\nis a limited number of shelters available in the member state, despite the high\nincidence of gender-based violence against women and girls, including domestic\nviolence\u201d; and that \u201cwomen and girls, including women-migrants and refugees,\nhave no access to the referral centers of the victims of sexual violence\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the bases for the recommendation \u201cTo increase the number of shelters and to ensure access of\nwomen-victims of gender-based violence based within a reasonable distance to\ncounseling and rehabilitation services throughout the country, as well as to\nensure a complete and uninterrupted access of women and girls victims of\ngender-based violence to medical and psychological support.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the recommendations refers to\nintensifying the efforts for strengthening the legal framework for violence\nagainst women, including adoption of a definition of gender-based\nviolence and incrimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the\nCriminal Code. <\/em><\/strong>Amendments to the Criminal Code are also recommended\nregarding marital rape<\/em> and changes in\nthe definition of rape, i.e. deleting the condition for penetration.<\/em><\/strong>\nBesides by the Working Group of the Human\nRights Council, <\/em>this recommendation was also issued by the Committee <\/em>on\nthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).<\/em> The\nCommittee underlines the huge number of murders of women (femicides), making it\none of the priorities for action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consequently, revision of the national\nlegislation in order to harmonize it with the Istanbul Convention <\/em><\/strong>is\nrecommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the implementation of the Law on Prevention\nand Protection from Domestic Violence, special attention should be given to the\nprovision of appropriate support to victims of domestic violence. <\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Invoking its general recommendations no. 35\n(2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation\nno.19 (1992) on violence against women, the CEDAW Committee recommends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – to ensure that the National Coordination Body against domestic violence has a mandate\nregarding all forms of gender-based violence against women <\/strong>and that it\nadopts measures for identifying and combating specific gender-related aspects\nof domestic violence;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – adoption of a comprehensive strategy for elimination of all forms of gender-based\nviolence against women, <\/strong>addressing the basic reasons for gender-based\nviolence and high-risk situations for women with disabilities, women in\nprostitution and women in detention;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – to systematically\ncollect data, segregated by relevant factors, <\/strong>on cases of gender-based\nviolence and discrimination of women brought before courts, including on the\nnumber of decisions for temporary protection, and inclusion of such data in the\nnext interim report;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – to\nensure a warranted access to free legal aid<\/strong> in procedures related to gender-based violence against women<\/strong>,\nespecially regarding decisions for temporary protection, prevention of stigmatization\nand alleviating the burden of proof from the victims seeking protective\nmeasures; to guarantee implementation of such decision by the police and courts\nand to ensure coordination among the competent institutions;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – in the part National Human Right\nInstitutions,<\/em> <\/strong>the Committee recommends that the State undertakes all necessary steps in order\nensure full harmonization of the Ombudsman Office with the principles relating\nto the status of the national institutions for advancement and protection of human\nrights (the Paris Principles),<\/strong> taking into account the recommendations of\nthe Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. Moreover, it\nrecommends that the State ensures the appropriate human, financial and\ntechnical resources for the Ombudsman Office and strengthen its mandate\nregarding the protection of women`s rights and gender equality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, it is still difficult to say\nthat the situation with women-victims of violence and domestic violence has\nbeen improved. A new Law on Social Protection has been adopted, which does not\nrecognize women victims of domestic violence as a separate vulnerable category\nand does not stipulate special measures for their financial support.\nAdditionally, the new law does not stipulate solutions for the most burning\nissues \u2013 the right to housing (permanent and\/or temporary) for women-victims.\nThe preparation process of the new Law on Gender-Based Violence is finished,\nand the Law is adopted by the Government, but it\u2019s still not adopted by the\nParliament. The process of amending the\nFamily Law has not been started yet although was planned to begin in the first\nhalf of 2019. The harmonization of the\nCriminal Code with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention is in its initial\nstage, and no amendments to the Law on Housing have been announced. Moreover,\nalthough in 2018 the country opened three new crisis centers for victims of\nsexual violence in Skopje, Tetovo and Kumanovo, to meet the standards of the\nIstanbul Convention, additional shelters for victims of sexual and gender-based\nviolence and human trafficking will be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Network to End\nViolence against Women and Domestic Violence welcomes the efforts by the\nMinistry of Labor and Social Policy in the direction of improving the legal\nframework for prevention and protection from different forms of gender-based\nviolence. As already mentioned, the process of drafting the text of the new Law\non Prevention and Protection from Violence against Women and Domestic Violence\nwas transparent and included all relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, since\n2017, the Ministry has increased the budget for supporting the organizations\nthat offer specialized services for women victims of domestic violence. In the\nfirst half of this year, the Ministry developed and adopted a Methodology for\ncalculating the costs for 6 specialized services for women-victims of violence.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n