Minister Marin Piletic said on Monday, in response to women's associations seeking justice for Mihaela Berak, killed two months ago, and the punishment of those responsible for omissions in that case, that the amended Penal Code will better regulate domestic violence and violence against women.

“The government has launched the procedure to amend an entire set of laws and the Penal Code will recognise aggravated murder of a woman, that is, femicide,” Piletic, who is the Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, said after a session of the Council for Children.

Women’s associations were protesting in a number of cities on Monday, calling for the adoption of a law that would regulate all forms of violence against women and include the crime of femicide. They said that two months had passed since the murder of college student Mihaela Berak by her policeman boyfriend and that the current amendments to the Penal Code did not treat such an aggravated murder of a woman as femicide.

Piletic said that he expected the amendments to strengthen both the judicial authorities as well as the Ministry of the Interior and the system of social welfare. The new amendments will improve communication between the competent services so that they are notified as soon as domestic violence is detected, he said.

The minister also said that the government was establishing an alimony fund to prevent secondary victimisation and enable state institutions to deal with the perpetrator without jeopardising the livelihood of the other parent and children.