What is the Sex Offender Advising the Serbian Government?
On October 2nd 2013 at 3:30pm at Republic Square, Women in Black will be holding a protest against the appointment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the economic advisor to the Serbian government.
We believe that his appointment is deeply immoral, spreading a culture of male violence against women and promotes impunity for sexual crimes.
Strauss-Kahn has repeatedly been accused of sexual crimes, abusing his high position and power, which the public deems untouchable. We view the choice to appoint a sexual offender as the economic advisor to the Serbian government as evidence of the unfaltering arrogance of the government, which is responsible for creating a culture of impunity for war crimes, for pervasive corruption, and now, for showing women that they may be legitimate targets of male violence.
In May 2011, while he was the director of the International Monetary Fund, he was arrested in New York and charged for sexual crimes and attempted rape - an immigrant woman who was a housekeeper in the hotel in which he was staying. In court he pleaded not guilty despite the fact that DNA test results concluded that his semen was found on the housekeeper’s clothing. There is a large asymmetry in power relations; for this incident we cannot address consent to sexual intercourse because consent is impossible in these circumstances. We can only address that, male dominance, as with racism, is an important point in this crime. Eventually the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
The defendant withdrew from his position at the IMF, and the victim was never compensated.
In addition, in 2003, he was accused of sexual crimes in Paris but the victim withdrew due to obsolescence. The most recent allegation was in Lille in July of this year, right before he was invited to work in Serbia. The indictment charges that the victims were involved in a prostitution network in a local hotel, for which the prison sentence is 10 years.
We demand that the Serbian government does not take into consideration the council of a sex offender, as this sends a message to Serbian women that sexual violence and male violence against women is permissible behaviour, and not illegal. With this, the Serbian government has also sent a message to women stating that they are not safe, that their physical integrity does not mean anything, and that men can commit crimes upon women’s bodies, for which they will not be held to account for.
In terms of Strauss-Kahn’s actions, we will keep you informed.
Other organizations that have joined our action are as follows:
Act women, Beograd,
Alternativni centar za devojke, Kruševac,
Asocijacija za žensku inicijativu-AŽIN, Beograd,
Autonomni ženski centar, Beograd,
Bibija, Beograd,
Centar za edukaciju i savetovanje – Katalista, Beograd,
Centar za evroatlantske studije, Beograd
Dae-Romski centar za žene i decu, Beograd,
Esperanca, Novi Sad,
Fenomena, Kraljevo,
Forum Žena, Prijepolje,
Glas Razlike, Beograd,
Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Srbiji,
Incest trauma centar, Beograd,
Interkultivator, Beograd,
Iz -kruga, Beograd,
Komitet pravnika za ljudska prava, Beograd,
Labris, Beograd,
Nezavisni ženski centar, Dimitrovgrad,
Novosadska lezbejska organizacija, Novi Sad,
Rekonstrukcija Ženski fond, Beograd,
Udruženje Roma „Danica“, Pančevo,
Udruženje Roma i SOS telefon na jezicima nacionalnih manjina, Novi bečej,
Udruženje žena Peščanik, Kruševac,
Ug "Ravangrad", Sombor,
Žene juga, Pirot,
Žene za mir, Leskovac,
Ženske studije, Beograd,
Ženski informativni dokumentarni centar, Beograd,
Ženski prostor, Niš,
Belgrade, October 2nd, 2013
