Fenomena Association - SMART Balkans

Summary of organization’s strategic orientation:

The vision of the Fenomena Association is a society based on solidarity, equality and emancipation from all forms of domination, and a society that protects the environment.

Overall objective of Fenomena’s current Strategy plan (2023-2027) is reduction of gender-based (GB) discrimination and violence in the Republic of Serbia.

The specific goals of Stratic plan are:

Maximising the availability of professional support and services for women and girls who survived gender-based violence (GBV).
Contribution to implementation of legal and policy framework in Serbia in line with international treaties and conventions related to anti-discrimination and gender equality (gender mainstreaming).
Enabling viability and resilience of Fenomena Association.
Challenging harmful gender stereotypes, norms and behaviors related to discrimination and violence against women and girls.

Summary of the supported project:

By increasing the availability of free legal aid (FLA) for victims of gender-based violence, which is the main focus of the proposed project, Fenomena has been engaged since 2021. Over the past four years, within Fenomena’s FLA program, numerous consultations and research studies have been conducted on this topic. As part of its four-year FLA program, Fenomena has held consultations with over 300 people, including 120 lawyers (through seminars, evaluations, and research), more than 50 representatives of municipal FLA services (via online consultations during seminars and through evaluation questionnaires), and 25 representatives of NGOs that work directly with victims of violence and human rights organizations, eight of which are registered for FLA with the Ministry of Justice.
With this project Fenomena continues, in line with GREVIO recommendations, to advocate for maximizing the availability of free legal aid for women who survived gender-based violence by:

Working with municipal FLA servants from 50 towns in Serbia on better service provision by education on specific nature of gender-based violence, the unique needs and challenges faced by women survivors seeking free legal aid (FLA), and the benefits of multi-sectoral cooperation for the effective delivery of legal services to victims of violence;
Based on the analysis and findings from monitoring, Guidelines for Referring FLA beneficiaries from municipal FLA services to specialized women’s organizations will be developed. These guidelines will be distributed to all municipal FLA services, and multi-sectoral meetings will be organized for three selected municipal FLA services and local women’s organizations. During these meetings, practical steps for referring victims of violence seeking free legal aid will be agreed upon;
Media activities will focus on informing and raising public awareness about the right to free legal aid (FLA), ways to access the FLA system, and the need for legal improvements.
In addition to informing citizens about their rights and increasing the number of FLA requests, the campaign aims to promote the use of the Fenomena’s specialized online platform for legal support to victims of violence – www.pravneinformacijezazrtvenasilja.rs. Furthermore, the campaign will serve as an advocacy tool to push for legal improvements and exert public pressure on policymakers.

Project goal(s):

Enhancing the capacity of municipal free legal aid (FLA) services to provide adequate legal assistance to victims of gender-based violence
Introducing a referral system in which municipal FLA services direct beneficiaries to specialized NGOs.
Advocating for amendments to the Free Legal Aid Act to enable the implementation and sustainability of key GREVIO recommendations, including:

– Equalizing all forms of gender-based violence with domestic violence;
– Expanding the scope of legal aid provided by specialized NGOs to include protection from gender-based violence, in addition to asylum and anti-discrimination cases;
– Equalizing the status of specialized NGOs registered for FLA with other FLA providers within the system, ensuring referral mechanisms and reimbursement of legal service costs from the public budget.

Beneficiaries:

Final beneficiaries are women experiencing gender-based violence in the Republic of Serbia. At least 230,000 women have experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence by a partner. According to a survey conducted by the Association Fenomena in September 2024 among NGOs providing direct services to victims of violence (as part of the shadow report for GREVIO), the most common needs expressed by victims seeking help from specialized associations include:

Confirming whether their experience qualifies as gender-based violence or domestic violence,
Being informed about their rights and the ways to exercise them,
Gaining a prior understanding of legal proceedings,
Receiving information on specific legal regulations and measures related to emergency protection orders, divorce, property issues, custody and child support, social benefits, sanction policies, and more,
Being referred to the appropriate institution or service,
Understanding how each relevant institution functions (police, social welfare centers, prosecution offices, and courts) and their legal obligations,
Receiving direct legal assistance, including legal advice, written submissions, legal representation, and defense in court.

Beyond legal services, most survivors also require additional psychosocial support during legal proceedings due to the effects of violence and secondary victimization by institutions. Specialist civil society organizations provide individual psychosocial support, self-help services, support groups, and accompaniment services during legal proceedings as a form of social support that complements legal aid.
Given these needs, multisectoral cooperation between municipal free legal aid services and specialized associations is essential to ensuring real access to legal aid for women who have survived violence.

Targets groups are:

1. Servants of municipal free legal aid services across the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia. The project will include at least 50 municipal FLA servants which constitutes approximately 34% of active free legal aid services. This direct target group will receive enhanced knowledge on the specifics of gender-based violence, the particular needs and challenges faced by women survivors of gender-based violence who seek free legal aid, and the benefits of multisectoral cooperation for the effective provision of legal services to victims of violence. Following in-person training and the distribution of the Referral Guide for Users, an increased understanding among municipal FLA servants is expected regarding the difficulties faced by victims of violence as a particularly vulnerable user category. Consequently, an increase in referrals to registered lawyers, as well as to specialized NGOs registered to provide free legal support, is anticipated. Since the adoption of the Law on Free Legal Aid, the referral rate has remained very low. Increasing the number of referrals to sensitized service providers is a standard that ensures better protection for victims of violence, greater security, and an improved quality of life.
2. Specialized NGOs working with victims of gender-based violence that are registered to provide free legal aid. Currently, seven associations are registered to provide free legal support to victims of gender-based violence. Of this number, at least three associations will be involved in piloting a referral system, whereby municipal free legal aid services will refer users to specialized associations.

A larger number of NGOs, at least 20, will participate in data collection for monitoring referrals, serving as research informants. This will provide a deeper understanding of the challenges related to effective referrals and enable the development of a Referral Guide that will be directly applicable. A policy document that is practical and effective enhances the quality of work of specialized NGOs while also accelerating victims’ access to justice and improving their protection from further violence.

Specialized associations will also be involved in advocacy efforts at the national level (Project Outcome 6) and in a TV campaign (Project Outcome 7), which will increase their credibility and provide them with an opportunity to contribute to the legislative improvement process. These advancements will enhance their position within the free legal aid system and ensure the sustainability of their work as specialized legal service providers.

3. Decision-Makers at the National Level – Relevant institutions include the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and three parliamentary committees (the Committees on: Judiciary, Public Administration, and Local Self-Government; Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality; European Integration); the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government; the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue; the Ministry for European Integration; the Minister without Portfolio responsible for gender equality, prevention of violence against women, and the economic and political empowerment of women; the Protector of Citizens (Ombudsman); and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality.

Amendment proposals to the FLA Law will be sent to all the listed decision-makers, while consultative meetings will be held with at least two institutions. These advocacy activities build upon the efforts undertaken during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in 2024 and represent a contribution to and continuation of work with this target group. Therefore, it is important to note that the two meetings and the specific decision-makers/institutions involved will be determined at the beginning of the project based on previous advocacy outcomes and current context regarding the protests in the Republic of Serbia.

Main activities:

The first group of activities focuses on cooperation between NGOs and local self-governments (LSGs), specifically municipal legal aid services, to provide free legal aid (FLA). It also aims to strengthen the capacity of municipal FLA services to improve legal assistance for survivors of violence.
The second group of activities contributes to the second specific objective—piloting a referral system in which municipal FLA services direct beneficiaries to specialized women’s organizations. This objective also promotes multi-sectoral cooperation.
The third group of activities focuses on continued advocacy for the adoption of amendments to the Free Legal Aid Act. This includes a media campaign and raising public awareness about the right to free legal aid, ways to access the FLA system, and the need for legal improvements.

Cooperation between local free legal aid services and non-governmental organizations in providing support to victims of gender-based violence (Available in Serbian)

Guidelines for Referring Users of Free Legal Aid to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Vice Versa (Available in Serbian)