Enhancing Criminal Justice Capacities for Combating Gender-based Violence in South-Eastern Europe

Gender-based violence remains one of the most serious human rights and security challenges across the OSCE region. In South-Eastern Europe, between 60 and 88% of women consider violence to be common or fairly common, according to the OSCE Survey “Well-being and Safety of Women” conducted Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia in 2018. 

Despite the magnitude of the problem, many women do not consistently seek access to justice services due to a lack of trust in institutions, as well as fear of stigma, shame, and secondary victimization.

Through this project, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s Strategic Police Matters Unit aims to strengthen the capacities of criminal justice systems in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia to prevent and combat gender-based violence. By improving institutional responses, the project seeks to increase public trust in the criminal justice system and, in turn, contribute to higher reporting rates.

A comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach

The project adopts a comprehensive approach by engaging all relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, social service providers, and civil society organizations. It promotes multi-sectoral co-ordination across the criminal justice chain, and strengthened co-operation with healthcare and educational institutions to ensure a holistic and effective response to gender-based violence. 

At the regional level, the project also facilitates knowledge-sharing and the exchange of good practices among the beneficiary participating states. 

Building Stronger Institutional Responses and Preventive Awareness

The project focuses on two main areas of intervention:

• Strengthening efficient, co-ordinated, and victim-centred institutional responses to gender-based violence, including through targeted capacity-building for first responders, police inspectors, investigators, prosecutors, and judges;
• Raising awareness of gender stereotypes and the various forms of gender-based violence among criminal justice practitioners and the general public.

The project is implemented in co-operation with a wide range of national stakeholders, the OSCE Field Operations in South-Eastern Europe and the Gender Issues Programme, in co-ordination with relevant international organizations.  

The initiative builds on the previous OSCE project “Effective Criminal Justice Strategies and Practices to Combat Gender-based Violence in Eastern Europe | OSCE”, which was implemented between 2018 and 2020 in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.