Facts, experiences and proposals related to domestic violence were in the focus of a panel held at the National Assembly on Wednesday. The participating experts were welcomed by Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek and Speaker of Parliament Borut Pahor, who stressed that meetings on such issues ought to be more frequent.
Talks focussed on different aspects of domestic violence, and representatives of the ombudsman's office were convinced that today's conclusions will help solve many dilemmas, doubts or problems that tend to emerge in this specific area.
Maja Rus Makovec from the Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital highlighted the fact that children often love their parents even when they treat them badly. "The myths about family can be very dangerous," Rus Makovec pointed.
Idealising family leads to the denial of family reality and consequently the pain of domestic violence victims. As a result, she noted, no help ever comes because all problems are concealed.
Psychological and social help is offered to women who have been victims of domestic violence by the Ljubljana Women's Counseling Centre. Its programme includes telephone counseling, individual meetings, legal advice and short-term accommodation in the centre's own facilities.
The Women's Counseling Centre was contacted last year by 636 women who had been victims of domestic violence, and in the fist half on this year, 390 women turned to the centre for help. Some 80 percent of these women are victims of their partners, said Lorena Delezan of the Women's Counseling Centre.
One of these stories was presented to the participants by Olga Bakovec. She sought the help of the police only after many years of abuse by her partner. The police, however, did not take her seriously and ended up making her feel guilty.
In addition to this shock, she was told that no action would be taken until physical confrontation occurred. Worried for her own life, the woman slept for half a year with car keys and pepper spray under her pillow. Her problems increased further when she filed for divorce.
As the procedure has been going on for three years now, Bakovec stressed the necessity for faster treatment in court, and called for more adequate responses on the part of the police, which should have acted immediatly instead of waiting.
She also stressed that in similar cases victims should be given more credit and the chance to tell the truth, as the most painful fact for her was that people just would not believe her story.
Today's panel also saw the participation of Polona Brcar of the Public Health Institute, Vlasta Nussdorfer from the Ljubljana Prosecutor's Office, Judge Vesna Pavlic Pivk from the Ljubljana District Court, Branko Lobnikar from the Police Faculty of the University of Maribor, Katja Zabukovec Kerin from the Association Against Violent Communication.
The event wrapped up after presentations of Sonja Robnik from the government Office for Equal Opportunities, who talked about the act on domestic violence, Tone Vrhovnik Straka from the government Office for Education, who touched on violence in school, and Polona Selic from the ombudsman's office, who talked about violation of children's rights and possible solutions.

Source: STA, 19 November