On October 25, 2024, an online launch was held for the collection of works titled “Gender and Violence in the Balkans” created as an outcome of the Winter School under the UNIGEM project, held in February this year in Novi Sad. The collection was presented by award-winning students whose papers were included in this publication: Milevoj Marin, Darija Spasić, and Sumejja Muratagić-Tadić, with the discussion moderated by Prof. Dr. Smiljana Milinkov from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad.

The publication is divided into four main thematic areas: gender-based violence, women’s experiences and gender inequality, gender in public spheres, including law and politics, and gender in education, science, culture, and the arts. The featured works offer unique insights into these themes, deepening understanding and contributing to the fight against violence through multidisciplinary perspectives.

During the presentation, Milevoj Marin introduced his work on femicide through a legal analysis of women’s murders in socialist Yugoslavia, while Darija Spasić discussed the protection of rape victims’ integrity within the criminal justice system, highlighting the importance of preventing secondary victimization. Sumejja Muratagić-Tadić explored the concept of consent from a feminist perspective in Vonda N. McIntyre’s novel Dreamsnake.

The Winter School brought together over 40 students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, representing 20 universities. During the five-day program, 17 interactive lectures on various aspects of violence were held, aiming to provide both theoretical insights and concrete guidelines for the prevention and combatting of violence.