Podcast
Battered Balkan men seek help
Updated: 2010-08-10 13:52
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"I must be the first man in the Balkans to admit that I have been battered by my wife," Dusan Stojkovic said with a wry smile, speaking from Serbia's first safe house for battered men.
It took a lot for the man who is in his 50s to reach out and get help, breaking a taboo in a country where men still cling to a fierce macho image.
Stojkovic has been in the safe house for abused men in central Cuprija, the first in Serbia, since it was founded in July 2009 by the Safety for Men non-governmental organization.
"My wife and her daughters hit me with baseball bats," he told AFP, thumbing through his thick legal file.
After the beatings, Stojkovic said, his wife accused him of battering her, saying she fought back in self-defense. He assumed this was his spouse's way to get her hands on his assets: the house and his dog breeding business.
The organization's founder Dusan Trifunovic, a former mayor of Cuprija, explained that many men were having trouble getting justice in abusive situations.
"Even if they get a court ruling in their favor it is almost impossible to enforce," he complained.
Stereotypes run deep in Serbia's still very traditional society.
Even Zivanovic admitted that she suppressed a snigger when she first heard of Safety for Men but said she was stunned by the number of cases similar to Stojkovic's.
Safe house resident Janko Paunovic meanwhile has a practical suggestion to help male and female victims of domestic violence overcome their ordeal.
"They should build the safe houses for men and women next to each other," he said.
"We will have men and women who suffered there. They can talk about it and who knows what could happen" he explained with a hopeful smile.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.
