The goal of the project “Arms export and violence against women: advocating for gender responsible and transparent implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) provisions in Serbia” is to enhance the role of the Serbian parliament and civil society in overseeing Serbia’s compliance with the obligations made under the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as of 2014, specifically the fact that exporters should take into account the risk of the use of conventional arms to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence (GBV) or serious acts of violence against women (VAW) and children.
Serbia has strong motives to contribute to the development of additional domestic mechanisms of compliance with the ATT. It is one of the major exporters of small arms and light weapons (SALW). SALW are often used in cases of GBV. Serbia intends to significantly increase the volume of the arms export and consequently needs to secure top-notch alignment with the regulations governing transparent arms export. Due to armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the widespread proliferation of small arms, Serbia itself suffers from high rates of GBV and a considerable percentage of femicide inflicted by SALW and therefore has strong motivation to adhere to the BV/VAW related ATT provisions.
The project is supported by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
