Mothers with children are most frequent victims of a domestic violence according to statistics of the Department for protection of children and youth which operates within the Center for Social Affairs in Mitrovica North, whereas lack of a Safe House makes the problem more complicated.

The director of the Center for Social Affairs, Dejan Đinović, said to Kontakt Plus Radio that Center offers advisory services to victims of a domestic violence, of which 20 were registered in the previous year. “We talk to victims…most frequently it is about mothers with children, juveniles, whereas children have priority protection, provided by our Center,” said Đinović.

He further said that there are indications that the problem might be settled by the end of the year and added that there is a building in Srbovac, covering surface of 6.000 square meters which is lately discussed as an option.

The initiative for construction of the Safe House was launched last year by the NGO ‘Aktiv’. According to a project manager in that organization, Caleb Waugh, project is still in the phase of discussion with municipal institutions. He added that according to a survey carried out by Aktiv, every third woman in northern Kosovo is a victim of a domestic violence.