Institutional gaps and no shelters near Bogdanci after femicide of 17-year-old Biljana Kirić

The killing of 17-year-old Biljana Kirić in Bogdanci has reopened questions about whether authorities properly recognise and act on threats to women’s lives, or treat cases of violence as routine incidents.

Local gaps, national consequences

During an evening debate, judge Gabriela Gajdova, lawyer Neda Chalovska and Elena Dimushevska from the National Network Against Violence Against Women pinpointed procedural flaws and service shortages that they say contributed to the tragedy.

Lawyer Neda Chalovska warned that after the report "Biljana remained without any protection for 20 days even though the Law on Juvenile Justice, she says, when the victim is a child the procedure is urgent, and the public prosecutor decides to proceed with a regular procedure and there is not even a decision on security, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, because the measure imposed in a civil court does not exclude the prosecutor from requesting a security measure or another measure determining presence, such as, say, house arrest. Here we have an especially vulnerable victim, who is a minor, who interrupted her education for two weeks because she was afraid and did not attend school for two weeks," and noted she was wearing a blouse bearing the names of women victims of violence such as Ajnet, Suzana, Rosica, Ivana and Katja, Tankica, Ramajana…

Judge Gabriela Gajdova said she "has the impression that the task is being fulfilled formally and through the trainings we hold I see that the risk assessment is done based on forms that are held by both the Ministry of Interior and the Center for Social Work." She added: "I want to emphasize that the risk assessment is much more than a checklist and formally asking questions and getting answers."

Elena Dimushevska stressed that "this is not the first case where we talk about risk assessment, but an issue that has been raised for years. She emphasized that even if there had been a proposal for this girl to be placed in a shelter or to be provided with psychological support, she could not receive it because there is not a single free service in the vicinity of Bogdanci except the Center for Social Care."

The speakers framed the problems as a mix of procedural rigidity, uneven use of prosecutorial powers and a stark absence of local support services — especially shelters — that leaves vulnerable victims with nowhere to turn. They called for faster, child-sensitive procedures and for expansion of free psychosocial and shelter services in smaller municipalities.

Photo: press material from the event