28 January 2016 – Serbian Parliament adopted the proposal of Social Democratic MP and party chief Marko Đurišić to amend Article 5 of the draft law on the police, which regulates, among other things the prevention of discrimination. It now states that discrimination based on gender or gender identity is forbidden.
The adopted amendment is very significant because Article 5 regulates the fundamental rules which form the basis on the Law on Police, so that all behavior of the police can be viewed within this frame. Additionally, Article 5 is to be strictly applied within the recruitment process and employment in Serbia’s police force. As a result, discrimination on grounds of gender and gender identity is explicitly prohibited in the recruitment process too.
The social-democrats proposed two amendments to the law, both related to the rights and position of trans people in Serbia. While the first above-mentioned amendment was approved, the second one suggesting that in case of detention and control from police a trans citizen has the right to choose the gender of the police officer who will perform the body check. Unfortunately this proposal was not accepted.
Serbian trans rights organization Gayten, welcomed the adoption of the amendment which represents a huge step towards the legal recognition and regulation of the rights of trans people in the country.