REPORT ON THE GENDER ANALYSIS OF SMALL ARMS CONTROL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS IN MONTENEGRO
REPORT ON THE GENDER ANALYSIS OF SMALL ARMS CONTROL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS IN MONTENEGRO

Author(s): Tijana Vuksanović
Subject(s): Politics, Security and defense
Published by: The South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC)
Keywords: Small arms control; gender-based violence; domestic violence prevention; firearm legislation; Montenegro security policy; gender
Summary/Abstract: The misuse and proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) is recognized as a serious threat to the security of citizens, stability, and development, especially in South East Europe. Firearm ownership has a strong gender dimension. Research on the impact of small arms on domestic violence has documented clear linkages between firearms possession and domestic violence. Studies by the World Health Organisation show that femicides committed by intimate partners account for somewhere between 40 and 70 percent of all femicides. In Montenegro, men represent an overwhelming majority when it comes to the possession, use, and misuse of firearms. They dominate among both perpetrators and victims of firearm-related incidents. When men are victims of firearm homicides, the majority are killed by other men. Women rarely possess firearms, seldomly misuse them, and, unlike men, they are significantly more often the victims than the perpetrators of firearm incidents. This is particularly true in the domestic violence context. Perpetrators of firearm-related violence against women are most often their current or former intimate partners, and the presence of firearms drastically increases the likelihood of a lethal outcome.

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