At the nineteenth meeting of the Gender Equality Committee of the Parliament of Montenegro, a control hearing of the following was held: the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Mr Predrag Bošković, MA; the Assistant Minister of Health Mr Mensud Grbović, MD; and the Director of the Police Administration Mr Slavko Stojanović, on the topic – Implementation of the “Strategy on Protection against Domestic Violence 2011 -2015”.

Following the discussion, in which, apart from the members of the Committee the representatives of the following NGOs also participated: NGO “Bona Fide”, Pljevlja; Women’s Rights Centre, Podgorica; “Women's Safe House”, Podgorica and “Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence - Niksic”, the Committee adopted the following conclusions by a majority of votes:

- The Committee concluded that the available data pointed out at the fact that the issue of violence against women was becoming increasingly visible. The problems arising in practice pointed out that it was necessary to increase the level of cooperation between the competent institutions, as well as their cooperation with the civil society organisations and to work continuously on strengthening capacities with regard to specific knowledge and skills.

- It was concluded that the work on implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, as well as on the awareness of the social environment and all actors, in order to prevent violence against women, needed to be increased, and it was necessary to work together on achieving social consensus, aimed at overcoming these issues and seeking for the best and the most effective solutions.  

- The Committee will follow the adoption of regulations for implementation of the Law on Social and Child Welfare, in due time, as prescribed by the law.

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, and the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.