A total of 29 women were killed in domestic violence incidents in Serbia in the first six months of 2011, and according to official data, one out of two women has experienced some form of psychological abuse, whereas every third one was physically abused.

A total of 32 women were killed in domestic violence incidents in 2010, and in 80 percent of the cases, the perpetrators were present or former partners and husbands. Fathers and sons of victims, as well as in-laws, were also common perpetrators.

"Every other woman reported having been a victim of physical violence, and that is the type of violence that victims tend to put up with the longest. Statistics show that the number of fatal cases considerably increased in 2011 compared to 2010, which is why everyone should get involved in the solving of that problem," President of the Gender Equality Council at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Snezana Lakicevic Stojacic told Tanjug.

A National Strategy for Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women in the Family and in Intimate Partner Relationships was adopted in Serbia in April 2011, and as Lakicevic explained, the first thing to do to eliminate violence is try to prevent it, the second one is to improve legislation, and the third one implies a multisector cooperation and raising of the capacities of public administration.