Patriarchal values are deeply rooted in Montenegrin society and domestic violence against women is still treated as a problem reserved primarily to the private sphere. In March 2009, SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence Niksic (SOS) established a Crisis Center for women to provide emergency services in violent situations. Since the Center’s establishment, the number of survivors of domestic violence escaping their situation has increased; and the corresponding effect is that threats, stalking and intimidation of SOS staff have also continually increased. Most recently, in September 2011, these threats escalated in the form of racist and sexist phone calls, as well as physical threats to the office and the organization’s members. SOS filed charges in several instances where perpetrators of domestic violence entered the office under the guise of claiming to “report violence,” and then in turn threatened women’s human rights defenders working there. In one instance, a perpetrator threatened to “destroy the office if his wife is there and if she doesn’t come home.” In response to the increased threats, the organization requested funds to secure its office through the installation of an alarm system, window and door blinds, surveillance outside the office and an intercom.
SOS’s mission is to eliminate violence against women and help survivors of all forms of violence in Montenegro by cooperating with relevant social institutions to provide physical and psychological rehabilitation to survivors.
