Between January 2024 and October 2025, Serbia experienced a period of profound civil unrest, marked by widespread protests, gender-based attacks on activists, and stalled implementation of gender-equality commitments. Violence against women – especially women human-rights defenders, students, and civic activists – has intensified amid shrinking civic space.
High-profile incidents, such as the case of student Nikolina Sinđelić and public smear campaigns targeting women protesters, illustrate systemic institutional failure to investigate and sanction gender-based violence (GBV). At the same time, the suspension of the Law on Gender Equality and delays in adopting the Action Plan for the Strategy on Violence against Women (2021–2025) have undermined Serbia’s obligations under Chapter 23 of the EU accession process and the Istanbul Convention.
These developments expose a deep discrepancy between Serbia’s formal commitments and its practical implementation.
The absence of accountability for gender-based crimes, the lack of a femicide registry, and minimal institutional protection for women human-rights defenders erode rule-of-law credibility. The European Commission’s 2024 Report on Serbia notes persistent non-compliance with GREVIO recommendations, including the failure to redefine rape based solely on lack of consent and the absence of dedicated funding for GBV prevention.1 Without tangible progress, Serbia’s justice reforms under the EU Reform Agenda risk remaining nominal, and women’s rights defenders continue to face intimidation without remedy.
1 European Commission, Serbia 2025 Report, 2025. Available at:
https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6e68ce26-b95b-48e1-921a-c60c12da8f00_en?filename=ser
bia-report-2025.pdf