In November 2011, the Government of Serbia adopted the General Protocol for Action and Cooperation of Institutions, Bodies and Organizations in the Situations of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence against Women. In the General Protocol, as well as in the above-mentioned National Strategy, it was planned that all responsible ministries should develop and adopt their own special protocols that would further specify internal procedures and guidelines for the conduct of each institutional system that participates in the protection of victims, as well as establishing measures to develop multisectoral cooperation. Special Protocols were also adopted by the responsible ministries.

This study is not aimed at providing a comprehensive review of the content of the General and Special Protocols, although it would be useful to analyse whether certain specific provisions could and should be improved. Rather, the study is focused on the implementation of the provisions in these documents, which specifically address multisectoral collaboration in the process of providing assistance and support to victims/survivors, in particular, and those services and measures aimed at longer-term empowerment of victims/survivors to create safety, freedom, and re-establish independent lives.

In the text that follows, we provide a brief overview of provisions that specify the main service providers and accountability for coordinating multisectoral cooperation.