FIREARMS CONTROL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: THE MISSING LINK? Cover Image

КОНТРОЛА ВАТРЕНОГ ОРУЖЈА И РОДНО ЗАСНОВАНО НАСИЉЕ: ЛИНК КОЈИ НЕДОСТАЈЕ?
FIREARMS CONTROL AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: THE MISSING LINK?

Author(s): Danijela V. Spasić
Subject(s): Studies in violence and power
Published by: Универзитет у Нишу
Keywords: firearms;domestic violence;legal framework;Serbia

Summary/Abstract: In the early 2000s, estimates indicated the presence of over a million pieces of firearms and a large amount of ammunition in the possession of Serbian citizens. At the same time, the demographics of domestic violence pointed to the consequences of the misuse of firearms in the context of family and partner violence. A large number of women’s killings (annually between 30 and 40) also raised the issue of possession of (non) legal weapons, as well as the adequate response of institutions in preventing fatal outbreaks. On the basis of the fact that Serbia passed the Law on Weapons and Ammunition in 2015, in 2013 it ratified the Istanbul Convention and adopted the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence in 2016, and the statistics on the death by murder of women in the context of domestic violence, the analytical approach in the paper focuses on seeking the answer to the question: whether the existing legislative framework provides for the protection of victims of violence against the misuse of firearms? The findings of study indicate the need to enhance the coherence of the legislative response to the risks posed by the presence of firearms in the family context, as well as establishing stronger links between the legislative framework for the control of firearms and the laws governing the response to domestic violence and partner violence.

  • Issue Year: XLIV/2020
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 1515-1532
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Serbian