After two mass murders in Serbia, which took place in May of this year, in response to the violence, the state announced the tightening of measures in the area of weapons and organized an action surrender of illegal weapons. However, the black chronicle continues to fill the front pages.
According to the report of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, 56 percent of citizens is not satisfied with the measures taken against violence, and trust in the police and the judiciary dropped significantly.
"In Vranje, three people were wounded in a shooting, which was preceded by a mass fight". "A man in Skadarlija shot a security guard because the musicians had finished their concert". "Knife attack on a young man in the middle of Knez Mihajlova". 'Elderly man killed with a machete'... This is just a part of the terrifying headlines that appeared on the front pages of newspapers in Serbia just last week.
Violence is no longer talked about as an incident, but about its new forms and forms. It has become a part political struggles.
In Serbia in ten years 300 women killed, violence among young people is constantly increasing, and we are at thirteenth place in the world by the number of suicides.
The candidate of the "Serbia against violence" list for mayor of Belgrade, Vladimir Obradović, tells the portal "Vremena" that the situation in society is more than worrying.
"We gathered around the idea of 'Serbia against violence', and we see that violence is still growing. It is not surprising that this is the case, because despite the demands of hundreds of thousands of people throughout Serbia who protested after the aforementioned tragedies, the government did not consider it necessary to consider those demands at all, and that would certainly lead to a reduction in violence," says Obradović for "Vreme".
The worrying coalition Šešelj-Šapić
He points out that as citizens, we should be concerned about the creation of the Šešelj-Šapić coalition because it acknowledges that we are returning directly to the values of the nineties, which were marked by enormous violence.
“You saw nstep of former mayor Aleksandar Šapić on the Sava Embankment. Is this a man who should reduce violence in society? Let's not forget that Seselj is a man who expelled people from their homes. Is building such a coalition a step towards reducing violence? Of course not", says Obradović.
What can be done in order for us as a society to find a different answer to the challenges we face, is a question for everyone who has a stake in the political, media and public scene of Serbia in general.
First step – fulfillment of requirements
Obradović reminds that it is necessary to fulfill the demands of the citizens.
"Violence must be removed from the public discourse, from television with a national frequency, and then work on it with people, and above all with children. But let's also remember the case from a few weeks ago when it was discovered that the money intended for the education of children on the subject of peer violence embezzled. These people are not even punished, but their mandates are extended. The clear decision of this government is not to fight against it and that it is part of their value system. One way to change that is to vote against violence in the elections on December 17, that is, to change the government that has unfortunately been propagating it for decades," says Obradović.
He says some measures can be implemented instantly, but many will take time.
"Children of 10, 11 years who will soon be teenagers, young people, they grew up under this government, not knowing any other way. But it is not impossible for things to improve. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll see results. We have to work with children in schools, but we also have to work with teachers. To be sensitized for working with children. I think that the temporary measure of introducing the police in the school is not the solution. What's next, bulletproof vests for teachers? They need continuous support and they don't memorandum which they received from the Ministry in September where they were told, Here, this is how you do it.", says Obradović.
The interlocutor of the "Vremena" portal is, as a university professor, in constant contact with young people, among whom, as he says, they also feel the fear of violence, which is omnipresent.
And while some claim that violence in society is on the rise, others say that it has always been this much, only that now the media gives it more importance, so it is more visible.
Obradović, on the other hand, warns that what we see in the media is only the tip of the iceberg.
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