Serbia

After the tumult of the 1990s, with the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo War, and the reign of Slobodan Milošević, the independent state of Serbia is now trying to regain some stability and develop its economy. Serbia is now a parliamentary democracy, and women have the same legal rights as men. However, Serbia's transition from socialism to capitalism has come at the expense of women, as poverty, new gender ideologies, and economic development compromise women's status. Under the socialist system, the normative gender ideology promoted equality in all aspects of public and private life. However, to appeal to Western investors, Serbia has adopted a more patriarchal ideology. With the slogan “Mothers of the Nation,” Serbians campaign for a woman's right to stay at home and be a housewife and mother, instead of fighting for wage equity. In many regards, Serbia is ignoring women's issues for the sake of economic growth.

Women's economic status has suffered in recent years. Although women make up 55 percent of the workforce, they are likely to be the first to lose their jobs, especially high-level positions. Women also are impeded from becoming business owners, with poor access to entrepreneur loans. Women earn 60 percent of university degrees, but 90 percent of those are in education-a traditionally female occupation with lower wages. The socialist welfare system provided women with a safety net, but in the transition to a capitalist economy, Serbia has experienced a feminization of poverty, with more and more women and female heads of household unable to support themselves or their families. Compounding that problem, women make up 58 percent of the refugees that still exist.

There are no laws to protect women from discrimination, and few resources to address women's issues, and as a result, Serbian women have experienced a recent rise in domestic violence and sex trafficking. The Serbian Victimology Society estimates that one-third of women have been physically abused, and half of Serbian women suffered from psychological violence. Statistics are difficult because the majority of women refuse to report the abuse, believing nothing will be done and being fearful of repercussions. High poverty levels have led to an increase in sex trafficking, and Serbia has become a waystation in the sex-trade business, as traffickers import and export women through the country.

Although there are some signs of hope for Serbian women, such as the creation in 2004 of the Council for Gender Equity, the new independent country of Serbia has not made women's status a focal point of their development. The transition to democracy and capitalism altered the gender ideologies and economic welfare of Serbian women.