Develop electronic system for reporting violence against children (RS0049)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The findings of the research conducted in the Republic of Serbia in recent years show that violence against children is widespread in various forms and in different environments. Children in the Republic of Serbia are exposed to various forms of violence on a daily basis: the direct or interpersonal violence, such as physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, as well as the less direct but complex forms of violence such as structural violence, which manifests itself in various forms – for example, through various forms of discrimination (child marriage, child labor or other forms of exploitation) or through serial social exclusion. The national report "Violence against children in Serbia" collected data on the prevalence of violence in relation to the environment in which violence occurs: in the family, in educational institutions, in social protection institutions, in the community and in the digital space.101 The report also pointed out key issues in this area, highlighting, among other things, the lack of centralized administrative records that would allow easy, reliable and accessible access to data for various interested parties (including CSOs and the research community, and be it for the purpose of protecting children from violence in practice, or in order to analyze the state of affairs), then insufficient focus on violence prevention, the need to improve coordination and cooperation between the competent state bodies, as well as the need to further raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of all actors involved.102 In addition, practice has shown the need to make the process of reporting violence involving children simpler and more efficient for citizens.

What is the commitment? The commitment includes the development of a system for electronic reporting, response and monitoring of various forms of violence involving children, prevention and support to victims of violence. The platform would include three basic components: 1) reporting all forms of violence involving children, either as victims or perpetrators, 2) educational component, through the implementation of online training, and 3) the informational component, realized through setting up educational materials for parents, teachers and the rest of the interested public. 41 101Strategy for Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence from 2020 to 2023 ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 80/2020). 102 http://socijalnoukljucivanje.gov.rs/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Nasilje_prema_deci_u_Srbiji_Nacionalni_izvestaj.pdf The general goal of the commitment includes creating conditions for more efficient electronic reporting of violence involving children by the citizens themselves, but also a coordinated reaction of the competent state bodies that will be much better connected through this platform. In addition, through the management and public availability of statistics in this area, the aim is to improve information available to the public and provide preconditions for regular monitoring of the situation in this area. It is expected that through the implementation of the commitment , citizens will be able to easily, quickly and efficiently report violence, improve and balance the reaction of the competent state authorities and ensure public availability of statistical data on the situation in the field of violence committed by children.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The implementation of the commitment in a clearly standardized procedure will contribute to a timely, complete, continuous and legal response to individual cases of violence involving children. First of all, citizens will be able to efficiently, quickly and easily, in one place, file a report and follow all the elements and phases of the reported case. Therefore, citizens will have an insight into the actions of the competent authorities, which will enable a clear determination of responsibility in cases of their untimely or inadequate reaction. In addition, the platform will ensure a coordinated response of all institutions of different systems and their necessary connection in providing assistance and support to victims of violence. Also, providing and publishing complete data will improve the transparency of the work the state bodies do in dealing with reported cases of violence involving children, but also make publicly available the data on reported and resolved cases, measures taken, etc. The special value of such data is the fact that their further analytical processing will enable the creation of the necessary basis for future planning of policies and activities on the prevention and protection of child victims. Finally, through the informational and educational component of the platform, important steps will be taken to raise awareness and improve the knowledge and skills of pupils, teachers, parents and all other interested citizens regarding prevention and other aspects of violence involving children.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? First of all, the realization of the commitment will indisputably provide relevant information, analytically considered, which is available to the public, and which does not violate the privacy of the individual. In this way, full transparency is achieved and public insight into the manner and content of the system's institutions' response to the occurrence of violence 42 against children is made possible, ensuring public awareness of the characteristics and scope of the phenomenon. In this sense, the commitment is relevant in relation to several core values of the OGP: ● First of all, access to information and data possessed by state bodies or arising in their work, which concern violence committed by children, is improved. ● Insight into the way in which competent authorities react creates the basis for determining clear responsibility in the system of actions, which contributes to the improvement of public accountability as a value of OGP. Finally, given that the system rests on the development and the use of the platform, the commitment is also relevant in relation to the use of technology and innovation.

Additional information The Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment will be in charge of the technical establishment, functioning and maintenance of the platform itself, while the responsibility for the implementation of specific content through the platform will belong to various state bodies, in accordance with established competencies. The commitment is fully in line with the General Objective of the Strategy for Prevention and Protection of Children from Violence from 2020 to 2023 ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 80/20), which means "ensuring society’s continuous comprehensive response to violence against children, in accordance with the dynamics of challenges, risks and threats, through an improved system of prevention, protection and support.”

Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable Start date: End date: 1. Established system for electronic reporting, response and monitoring of violence involving children, prevention and support to victims - developed platform "I protect you" (component 1) In progress I quarter2021 (January 2021) 2. Piloting the platform (component 1) I quarter of 2021 (February 2021) I quarter of 2021 (March 2021) 3. Realization of online training sessions for pupils and teachers (component 2) II quarter of 2021 (June 2021.) II quarter of 2022 (June 2022.) 4. Setting up educational materials for pupils, teachers and citizens (component 3) I quarter of 2021 (February 2021.) II quarter of 2022 (June 2022.) 5. Monitoring the situation through the publication of statistical data on violence involving children I quarter of 2022 (March 2022.) II quarter of 2022 (April 2022.)

Action Plan Review

Commitment 7: Combating Violence Involving Children

Commitment 7: Combating violence involving children

(Office of Information Technology and eGovernment; Government Working Group for Peer Violence; and Association of Lawyers AEPA)

For a complete description of the commitment, see commitment 7 in the action plan.

Context and objectives

Studies find violence involving children in Serbia to be widespread. A UNICEF report from 2017 points to previous research highlighting that 47% of children between the ages of 1 and 4 are at high risk of violence at home; one showed that 44% of school-aged children surveyed reported being exposed to peer violence; and one found that in the 2013/2014 school year, as many as 74% of secondary school students were exposed to at least one form of gender-based violence. [23] [24]At the moment, Serbia lacks a single system for collecting information on and monitoring cases of violence involving children, including demographic data related to perpetrators or victims. Some domestic violence data involving children can be obtained upon request, as is true with the number of registered cases in the National Institute for Social Protection and criminal sanction from within the judicial statistics. In some other cases, some data on peer-to-peer violence could, in theory, be requested from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development or from the Ministry of the Interior. In no small part due to the stigma surrounding the topic, most important information regarding these cases remains dispersed across agencies or is unavailable. [25] Having a comprehensive understanding of violence involving children is critical in helping address both the cases of violence and their repercussions. [26] If implemented as planned, this commitment would bridge the information gap that prevents the proper tackling of violence involving children.

The commitment intends to establish a platform, called “I protect you,” for filing reports, monitoring, responding to, and educating the public and government stakeholders on all forms of violence that involve children as either victims or perpetrators. The commitment could contribute to improved access to information as it pertains to violence involving children and how it is addressed, alongside other tools to help reduce it. Importantly, it would allow individuals to report cases of this type of violence, which authorities, like the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, would then be required to handle and respond to, according to their purview and competence, incorporating a public accountability component to the commitment. These agencies would then be required to report on the progress of each case using the reporting platform. Meanwhile, by managing the platform, the government would be responsible for coordinating the reporting, assessing how well cases are being handled, and adjusting the overall strategy for handling future cases. Besides the platform, a national call center would deal with calls related to this type of violence, which the government would oversee as well. [27]

This commitment was proposed during the broader consultation process in mid-2020 by the Association of Lawyers – AEPA, a voluntary, professional, nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of the legal field and the advancement of vulnerable groups. [28] The Government Working Group for Peer Violence and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs together developed the final text of the commitment. [29] According to a government representative, the Office of the Prime Minister had a crucial role in formulating this commitment. [30]

Potential for results: Substantial

The platform this commitment proposes could contribute to three important aspects of tackling violence involving children. The first would be to integrate relevant reporting on the topic from competent government agencies, particularly the Social Affairs and the Ministry for Family Welfare and Demography; the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development; and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs. [31] Currently, data such as the causes of this form of violence, how this violence is manifested, and the gender, age, and territorial distribution of perpetrators and victims are difficult and sometimes impossible to assemble. Yet, these data are crucial for the adequate prevention and protection of children from violence. [32] The information that would be reported out as a result of the commitment could increase and improve the access to information about the topic and allow the government and civil society to better inform their strategies for tackling violence involving children.

The second component, led by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, would develop and implement online training and accompanying material for pupils and teachers on this type of violence. [33] This could ultimately improve the capacity to respond to such cases of violence.

Finally, the platform would include a space for the members of the public to report on cases involving children to competent agencies, and these agencies would be required to respond to such reports. [34] This last component could lead to results for public accountability, wherein competent authorities are made responsible for properly handling each one of these reports.

If implemented successfully, this commitment could result in a better informed and trained public and a more responsive and strategic government, all of which could contribute to reduced violence involving children. Therefore, this commitment has a potential for substantial results.

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

This commitment seeks to tackle violence involving children, a pressing problem in Serbia, and its components point toward achieving important progress in addressing it. The IRM makes the following recommendations to ensure the commitment is successfully implemented and fulfills its potential:

Results Report

Commitment 7. Combating violence against children

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Substantial

● Completion: Limited

● D id it open government? Marginal

One of the five activities under this commitment was fully completed, while the others saw varying degrees of completion. In March 2021, the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment launched the platform “I Protect You” with three key components: informational (texts for students, parents, and teachers), educational (educational materials for students, parents, and employees) and technical (reporting violence and statistical analysis). The first two components have been implemented with eight informative texts per month, 12 online educational videos (15 planned for 2023), and the 24/7 call center. However, the technical component for monitoring and reporting cases of violence involving children was not installed. The second activity was piloting the platform, which was completed, while the third and fourth activities were implemented through online education and materials for teachers, students, and citizens on the platform. The fifth activity - publishing statistical data on violence involving children – saw limited completion. As of the writing of this report, the platform only stores data on primary and secondary violence prevention, but online reporting on tertiary violence prevention [41] and connecting all responsible institutions have not yet been enabled.

This commitment’s impact on opening government was marginal because the key functionality – online reporting and monitoring of the violence involving children - was not installed. The Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment plans to implement this function in phase II, probably by the end of 2023. Based on the current trajectory, long-term prospects for this commitment look promising. While it is unclear if it will be carried forward to the next action plan, the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment is already planning phase II for 2023, which would complete this activity and continue the educational component of the platform. The IRM recommends the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment enable online reporting as soon as possible in order to systematically monitor violence involving children and publish statistical data.