Project STOPP supported the implementation of perpetrator programmes in the Western Balkans and Turkey over an 18 month period. The project was dedicated to ensuring that Articles 12 and 16 of the Istanbul Convention are fully recognised and implemented in the region in order to protect women and children from domestic violence.

Project STOPP developed a multi-level capacity-building strategy in order to ensure that general and specialist services for victims and for perpetrators of all forms of violence are able to implement the standards enshrined in CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention regarding the work with perpetrators and young people.

The project was run in partnership with UN Women as part of the regional programme ‘Implementing Norms, Changing Minds: Ending Violence Against Women in the Western Balkans and Turkey,’ funded by the European Union.

In the Western Balkans and Turkey, perpetrator programmes face many challenges - Project STOPP’s mission is to change this in order to end violence against women and children in the region.

In line with the UN Women's regional programme, Project STOPP aims to address the patriarchal structures and inequality between men and women, which are still pervasive in the region in creating a framework for safe and accountable perpetrator work, in a sustainable and standardized way.

Perpetrator programmes play an important role in the coordinated community response to violence against women. Relevant stakeholders and policy makers must recognise the relevance of perpetrator programmes and develop/ or implement legislation to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The project will also pay special attention to the hindering effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the development and implementation of perpetrator programmes in the region.

Read the regional report - Perpetrator Programmes in the Western Balkans: Mapping the Existing Practices and Ways Forward

Read the executive summary in Albanian

Read the executive summary in Bosnian

Read the executive summary in Kosovar

Read the executive summary in Montenegrin

Read the executive summary in Macedonian

Read the executive summary in Serbian

The overall goal of the project is to increase safety and well-being for women and children in the region by interrupting and preventing violent behaviour.

In order to achieve this goal Project STOPP will:

• Run online training for perpetrator programmes workers to monitor the quality of the perpetrator programmes already implemented in the region
• Set up an evaluation system to support the quality assessment of existing and new perpetrator programmes in Serbia, Kosovo* and Albania
• Set up and support perpetrator programmes in Serbia, Albania and Kosovo
• Host webinars on guidelines for standards, Covid-19 response and on-line violence
• Support education programmes for school staff and young people in Serbia and Albania
• Research and produce a report on the implementation of Articles 12 and 16 of the Istanbul Convention with recommendations and promote the report among relevant stakeholders in the region

*For the European Union, this designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. For UN Women, references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)

• OPNA (Nacionalna mreža za tretman počinilaca nasilja u porodici, National Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence) in Leskovac, Serbia, an NGO working in the field of preventing violence against women and domestic violence through perpetrator programmes, capacity building of professionals and work with youth.
• WtW (Woman to Woman – Gruaja tek Gruaja, women and girls support service and counseling centre for men and boys) in Shkoder, Albania,
• CLMB (Counselling Line for Men and Boys, the first programme for perpetrators in Albania established by the national hotline for victims of domestic violence) in Tirana, Albania,
• SIT (Center for Counseling, Social Services and Research, non-governmental and non-profit organisation providing professional counseling services and research on health and social welfare) in Pristinë, Kosovo.  
•  WWP European Network, umbrella association for perpetrator programmes – Dissemination and GBV knowledge

The project is run in partnership with UN Women*

* The content of this webpage and project news does not necessarily reflect the views of UN Women, its Executive Board or the United Nations Member States. The designations in this publication do not imply an opinion on the legal status of any country or territory, or its authorities, or the delimitation of frontiers. [The webpage and project news have not been edited to official publication standards and UN Women accepts no responsibility for error].

Sandra Jovanović Belotić Training and Capacity Building Manager WWP EN: s.jovanovic(at)work-with-perpetrators.eu