Women and Children: Serbia in Modernization Processes in the XIX and XX Centuries

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights published the fourth miscellany of essays Helsinki Files, under the auspices of the �Serbia in Modernization Processes in the XIX and XX Centuries� project. The miscellany was dedicated to women and children during this period.

�The political actors in Serbia in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th Century accepted the West European forms, i.e. the political modernization for their instrumental values. The were accepted to gain Europe�s sympathy for the goals of what was essentially a patriarchal and closed society�, writes Latinka Perovic, historian and one of the authors that contributed to this Miscellany.

Andjelka Milic, professor at the Belgrade University�s School of Philosophy, said at the launch of the book that women and children remain the powerless segment of society in Serbia, therefore, they are the most vulnerable. In her words, the Miscellany provides good insight into the whole problem of how Serbian society treats women and children.

Nevena Vuckovic-Sahovic from the Children Rights Centre, said that children are often exposed to discrimination. She pointed out, as an illustration, the fact that there is no official record of the number of children younger than 18 years of age in Serbia.

�The patriarchate and the authoritarian treatment of children is visible not only in the family, but also in education, healthcare and the judiciary�, said Vuckovic-Sahovic.

The Women and Children is available for download at the following link. (3.87 MB, PDF file. 177p.)