NGO Women’s Rights Center organizes the “Smashing Patriarchy Day” in the courtyard of  the organization (Bokeška 20) on Friday, October 25, 2019, starting at 5 pm.

The event is intended to be an Open Day for the Women’s Rights Center, where visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the work of the organization, the types of support we provide and free services available to citizens, victims of gender-based discrimination and violence, as well as to view the exhibition of works created at the “Short Course of Cutting Patriarchy”. The music part of the program will be taken care of by Petar čurić and Alen Jaredić.

 

The “Short Course of Cutting Patriarchy” was held from October 4-9 and included an introductory theoretical lecture on engaged art based on examples of Dadaism and Bauhaus artwork, as well as features of socially responsible design and hands-on creative workshops where attendees made collages covering topics in the field of feminism. The workshops were led by Tanja Markuš, painter and Milica Šaranović, designer.

 

The event was organized within the project “Women’s Activist Hub – Empowering Civic Activism of Youth”, implemented with the support of the Fund for Active Citizenship, through the program “For a Stronger Voice of Civil Society Organizations”, and with the financial support of the US Embassy in Podgorica.

Is your organization working to address gender-based discrimination? Are you seeking to further women’s labour rights?

We are happy to announce new opportunities to collaborate as part of a regional coalition that seeks to address gender-based discrimination in the Western Balkans. We have opened a call for proposals in which we will provide funding for other organisations to collaborate with us on these efforts.

This initiative is funded by the European Union and co-funded by Swedish International Development Agency as part of a regional Action. The partners engaged in implementing this action are:

Kosovo Women’s Network, Reactor Research in Action/ Реактор истражување во акција from North Macedonia, Gender Alliance for Development Center (GADC) from Albania, Helsinki Citizens Assembly Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Women's Rights Centre from Montenegro, and the The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation from Sweden through its office in Serbia.

For more information, visit: https://womensnetwork.org/kosovo-wom…/call-for-applications/

In the period from 4 to 9 October, Short School of Cutting Patriarchy was held in the premises of the Petrović Njegoš Foundation. The course consisted of an introductory theoretical lecture on  engaged art troughexamples of Dadaism and Bauhaus, and features of socially responsible design and creative workshops where attendants made collages on the topics from the field of feminism that they considered relevant. The workshops were led by Tanja Markus, painter and Milica Saranovic, designer.

The course was organized within the project “Women's Activist Hab – Empowering Young Women's Civic Activism”, which is implemented with the support of the Fund for Active Citizenship, through the program “For a stronger voice of civil society organizations”, and with the financial support of the US Embassy in Podgorica.

Photos from the workshops are available here.

Brussels, 4 Oct. 2019
Today, a new research report by a coalition of women’s rights organisations from the Western Balkans titled ‘Gender-based Discrimination and Labour in the Western Balkans’ was presented at an event in Brussels. Supported by the EU and Swedish International Development Cooperation, the study is part of a broader regional initiative aimed at addressing and tackling gender-based discrimination and improving women’s rights related to labour.
Some key findings of the report presented at the launch-event include:

· Gender-based discrimination is widespread, particularly regarding hiring, promotion, maternity leave and sexual harassment.
· While relevant international instruments have been ratified, the legal frameworks pertaining to discrimination are fragmented and often inconsistent across the region. Different standards of protection, procedures and sanctions applicable under various laws contribute to the confusion.
· Few institutions from the Western Balkans responsible for addressing labour-related gender-based discrimination maintain clear data about its prevalence.
· While relevant institutions seem generally knowledgeable about their responsibilities to address gender-based discrimination at work, few cases have been reported so institutions lack practical experience in treating such cases.
· People generally lack awareness on where gender-based discrimination can be reported.

During the event, Vaska Leshoska, Researcher from Reactor-Research in Action, also presented real, harrowing stories from women in the region, including a woman from Montenegro, who said: “I was supposed to replace a girl who was on maternity leave. They planned to fire her after. They told me that I was not allowed to get pregnant for two years.”

In addition, the research report entails a number of recommendations for institutions from the Western Balkans as well as for the EU on a variety of topics, including the adoption and implementation of reforms on gender-based discrimination, improved monitoring approaches, and continued support to women right’s organisations.

Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission underlined: “There is an urgent need for more action to tackle gender-based discrimination across the region and at all levels. The EU is working with governments, private sector representatives and civil society towards the necessary reforms and actions in this area, and will continue providing other support to foster gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region. Over the past years, our assistance has already delivered concrete results in important areas, such as the fight against gender-based violence and support to women’s rights organizations.”

Background:

The report was researched and written by a coalition of women’s rights organisations from the Western Balkans, including the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), Reactor – Research in Action from North Macedonia, Gender Alliance for Development Centre from Albania, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Women’s Rights Centre from Montenegro, and the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation from Sweden through its office in Serbia.

It includes a comparative analysis of relevant legal frameworks in the Western Balkans, findings on the prevalence and nature of labour-related gender-based discrimination and how institutions have treated such cases, as well as targeted recommendations.
Speakers at the launch event included: Colin Wolfe, Head of Unit for Western Balkans Regional Cooperation and Programmes, European Commission; Lisa Bjuggstam, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Department for Foreign and Security Policy, Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU; Gordon Purvis, Policy Officer – European Integration Negotiator European Commission, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Western Balkans, Montenegro; Christiane Westphal, Policy Officer – International Issues Unit, European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion; Nicole Farnsworth, Program Director, Lead Researcher, KWN; David Ryan, Co-author, KWN; and Vaska Leshoska, Researcher, Reactor-Research in Action.

The full report is available at: https://womensnetwork.org/publications/gender-based-discrimination-and-labour-in-the-western-balkans/

For further information, please contact:
Nicole Farnsworth, KWN Program Director and Lead Researcher at Nicole@womensnetwork.org.
Maja Raicevic, executive director, Women’s Rights Center Montenegro
majaraicevic.wrc@gmail.com