Apathy

The past two weeks have we in the Macedonian Women’s rights center been in constant communication with a Belgrade women's organization we, because our former client is currently in Serbia and seeks for protection. The woman, and her three underage children, has a long history of brutal psychological and physical abuse and violence from her husband.

After all the trauma she has survived, physical, psychological, verbal attacks, aggression, humiliation and open threats to her life, she decided to leave her home and children and go to Serbia where she was born.

But she couldn’t stand to be apart from her children, so even though she knew the risk of coming back home in Macedonia, she came. And so, she asked for help. When she arrived early in the morning to the train station she was immediately taken to the center which provides shelter up to 48 hours, until finding a long term solution.

Me and my co-workers took take a part in the whole procedure. I was concerned there would not be enough people to help.  I have no words to thank them for everything they have done and for the way they are.

In order to find a long term solution we sent a request with official act to the Centar for Social Welfare from X city, we said that we need urgent protection and shelter for this woman. The procedures of making formal decision from the above mentioned institution take some time, so we went to the shelter and waited for an answer about her further protection and sheltering. After some time we received an official act from the Centar for Social Welfare that our request (singed from three institutions involved in this case) was refused.

The act beautifully states that:

-       the Centar for Social Welfare acts upon cases where there is an open threat of force where someone’s life could be in danger. According to them everything what previously happened the woman,  all official acts previously submitted to the Center and to the police where the case was several times reported  goes up in smoke !

-        According to the law on blablabla, users of social welfare are citizens of Republic of Macedonia. Just for clarification, the woman is Serbian citizen and has not Macedonian citizenship . She was married in 1992 in Macedonia, where she lived,  except of occasional stays in Serbia, where she escaped in due to escalation of violence.

The answer from the Center for Social Welfare was in harmony with the legislation. I find unbelievable! Makes me for a moment to feel so miserable and insignificant.  I nearly wish to have their rigid professional expertise!

So, it is ignored that in the meantime the woman may be killed, the possibility of happening of brutal violence over again is ignored as well, no attention is paid to the entire history of physical violence, psychological torture, violence against her children, the basic reason for existing of institutional protection is ignored entirely. The Centar for Social Welfare seem to think that they have acted in harmony with the rules and the inviolable expertise of system’s institutions.

I want to take a bow to the Centar for Social Welfare, to express my humility and to apologize for my arrogance for seeking their help and cooperation for such case which clearly wasn’t challenging enough for their attention. Maybe, if tomorrow a woman dies, they will be sorry for that, but they are simply doing their job, fully harmonized with the existing legislation.  Applause, please!

/Nade Kachakova

Nade Kachakova is active in Macedonian Woman’s Rights Center – Shelter Center in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

www.mwrc.com.mk