Support for victims of crime must be systematic and not be left to individuals, discreet heroes in institutions

Sanja Ćopić, from the Victimology society of Serbia, pointed out that it is very difficult to get precise information on the number of victims of criminality in Serbia. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia only offers information on people affected by criminal acts and only in cases that represent legally concluded court proceedings. However, the real number of victims is much higher.

“Every one of us can become a victim of different types of human rights abuses, and the consequences of criminality are far-reaching – those are the consequences that affect the individual, their environment, and society as a whole. These consequences are costing us more than the prevention would,” said Sanja Ćopić.

When talking about the victims that actually do reach out to proper authorities that are responsible for their care, Sanja Ćopić noted that it is not uncommon for them to be additionally victimized or exposed to secondary victimization which is reflected in sensationalistic media reporting, constant repetition and recollection of the events victims have been through.

While speaking about human trafficking victims, Hristina Piskulidis from the ASTRA – Anti Trafficking Action, stated that today’s context (poverty, deep-seated corruption and crime, etc.) contributes to the understanding of reasons why large amounts of people are willing to risk it and accept suspicious jobs abroad, or are trying to improve their lives in other ways, while in fact they are risking becoming victims of human trafficking.

“Dominant form of exploitation still is sexual exploitation. That means that girls and women make up around 80% of human trafficking victims. What is different from the past ten years is that now we see an increase in the number of human trafficking victims for the purpose of labor exploitation and in those cases the majority of victims are men, but there is also labor exploitation of women, which is even less visible.” added Hristina Piskulidis

ASTRA noted in their analysis that one of the biggest problems that keep repeating every year in regards to criminal procedure of criminal acts of human trafficking, is the fact that the perpetrators of criminal acts of human trafficking in most cases get the lowest prescribed sentences. The problem lies in the fact that a large number of human trafficking victims are not informed of their right to free psychological and medical help, legal support as well as support during reintegration, meanwhile because of the lack of such information, victims often avoid reaching out to authorities and the civil sector.

While speaking about human trafficking, lawyer Nikola Kovačević pointed out that since 2016. when European countries introduced restrictive measures on their borders aiming to prevent smugglers and irregular migration, there was actually a sharp increase of smuggling cases. Namely, restrictive measures that violate the domestic laws of the countries that introduced them, violate their constitutions as well as international conventions, and imply the application of practices such as the violent expulsion of refugees. As Nikola Kovačević explains, that type of lawlessness creates other lawlessness – human smuggling. In those circumstances, the only way for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers to reach their final destination country is to reach out to organized crime groups and by doing that become their victims.

“We live in times in which states are breaking the rule of law on their borders and creating adequate ground for organized crime groups that are involved in smuggling and human trafficking to have a far larger victim pool to exploit because the urge of the people to achieve their goal, a good life in Europe, is so strong that they are ready to put their faith into the hands of the criminal groups”, stated Nikola Kovačević

He added that organized crime groups that are involved in smuggling and human trafficking are transnational and that there is no doubt that they have state officials within their ranks, because without them it would be impossible to carry out the these actions. Organized transnational criminal groups, all across the Western Balkan route do not function completely unhindered, but well enough that there is no end in sight to their operation.

The panelist all agreed that there needs to be a systematic solution to the questions of support and protection for victims of crime. Civil society organizations have decades-long experience and knowledge, but they are still not recognized by the state as its partners in providing support to victims. In regards to the fact that civil society organizations have gained the trust of the victims, which is of great importance, there is certain expectation that the victims will pivot towards them. However, for the organizations to be sustainable and able to provide their services to victims, they need financial help from the state that is currently non-existent. The expertise of people from NGO’s is used only ad hoc and as needed. The panelist pointed out that there are good examples in government institutions, but that they are not systemic rather they are individual and often dependent on the enthusiasm of the people in charge. For that reason it is important to work on educating and training people in the system, increasing their numbers and insisting on a certain standard of procedure below which one cannot go.

The event is a part of the “Western Balkans Organized Crime Radar (WB-OCR)” project which represents an initiative of civil society created as a response to increasing damage that organized crime deals to people of the Western Balkans. The work is supported by the Embassy of Netherlands in Belgrade, the Embassy of Kingdom of Norway in Belgrade and the Balkan Trust for democracy.

The report from the discussion was written by BCSP intern Ivana Rankovic.