Official: Equal Rights for All Are Threat to No One

Zorana Mihajlovic, BetaPhoto / Goverment of Serbia

Zorana Mihajlovic, head of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, said on March 31 that when someone is citing patriarchal standards as an argument against the law on gender equality, against the prohibition of discrimination and against the same-sex unions, they do not work in favor of a society in which all citizens have equal rights, her office said in a press release.

“A deeply rooted patriarchate equals to more than 300 women killed in family and partner violence over the past ten years, more than 450 children left without mothers, less working women who, albeit having university diplomas in greater numbers, are also less paid for their work, more pregnant women being fired, impossibility for the same-sex partners to enjoy property rights and protection,” Mihajlovic said.

She added that Serbia is changing and building a society that nurtures a culture of non-violence, in which children are learning to respect each other, where empathy, solidarity and accepting differences are not a threat but values bringing better future for the coming generations.

“I do not understand how anyone can have anything against a society in which women, as well as men, have equal rights, in which same-sex partners have the right to inherit property or be recognized as partners,” Mihajlovic also said.