The Multi Donor Trust Fund for Justice Sector Support (MDTF-JSS) in partnership with the Victimology Society of Serbia implemented the project Raising awareness on victims’ rights in Serbia. The project was implemented from December 2017 to July 2018. It particularly focused on the work on the ground with civil society organisations and local state institutions as service providers. There were two overall goals: 1) To raise awareness of victims and service providers/practitioners from both state institutions and civil society organizations in Serbia about rights and services for victims of crime; and 2) To foster networking and strengthening cooperation of relevant state institutions and civil society organizations on the regional and local level in order to facilitate referrals and enable timely and equal access to victim support for all victims. More precisely, the project aimed at achieving following specific objectives: 1) Informing victims about their rights and available services; 2) Informing service providers/practitioners from both state institutions (including police, social welfare centres, prosecutors’ offices, judiciary) and civil society organizations about victim support services in order to secure equal access to victim support for all victims; 3) Enabling networking and establishing cooperation among relevant institutions and civil society organizations on the regional and local level in order to facilitate referrals and enable equal access to victim support for all victims; 4) Establishing dialogue with relevant policy-makers for advocating for victims’ rights and establishing networks of institutions and organizations on the regional and local level in Serbia that would facilitate referrals and enable equal access to victim support for all victims; and 5) Preparing a comparative analysis and benchmarking of victim support systems in the Western Balkan countries, relevant for future advocacy for victims’ rights in both Serbia and other Western Balkan countries, for networking and cooperation at a broader, regional level.
Within this project, VDS printed two guides:
Guide through the criminal justice system of Serbia for victims empowers victims through the criminal justice system and informs victims about their rights and how to exercise them.
Guide through victim support services in Serbia provides information on existing victim support services in Serbia, available forms of assistance and support provided by each specific service, contact information and information on working hours.
