With the aim of strengthening the institutional response to domestic violence through improved coordination among relevant stakeholders, Montenegro has officially initiated work on revising the Protocol on Actions, Prevention of and Protection against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in Montenegro.

On 2 December, the first meeting of the multi-institutional working group, chaired by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Care for Family and Demography, was held in Podgorica. During the meeting, members reviewed the findings of a recent assessment of the Protocol’s implementation, carried out under the Action’s framework to advance victims’ rights.

The assessment put forward a number of key recommendations for improvement, highlighting in particular the inconsistent application of the Protocol across institutions, which has weakened coordinated responses and hindered effective protection for victims.

Based on these findings, it was concluded that Montenegro should revise the existing Protocol or prepare a new one to ensure that all institutions follow unified standards and procedures. The initiative is also timely given GREVIO’s recent findings on Montenegro, which emphasize the need to strengthen multi-agency cooperation and improve the handling of cases of violence against women and domestic violence. These observations reinforce the urgency of updating the Protocol to achieve full alignment with international standards.

The work will continue over the coming months, bringing together all relevant institutions, civil society organisations, and international partners. The revised Protocol will represent a key step toward establishing a consistent, victim-centered, and well-coordinated national response to violence against women and domestic violence in Montenegro.

This initiative is supported within the action “Strengthening accountability of the judicial system and enhancing protection of victims’ rights in Montenegro”,  part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, which  enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards.