Firearm homicides in the family context in Serbia

Abstract

The uncontrolled spread and misuse of firearms challenges and threatens both state and human security. Serbia is among countries with the highest number of civilian firearms’ holding in the world; nevertheless, it is not characterized by high levels of conventional crime or violence, which is most obvious when homicide data is examined and compared to the global average. The lethal acts of violence take place in various contexts and settings, including both public and private. Familyrelated homicides make up a significant share of all violent deaths in Serbia. Taking that as a starting point, this presentation will focus on the scope and characteristic of firearm homicides in the family context in Serbia. The paper is primarily based on the data collected from the Serbian Ministry of the Interior and the media reports. The paper starts with a brief introduction to the context related to firearm violence in Serbia and continuous with an analysis of the data on the scope and characteristics of family-related homicides in the period 2015–2019. The analysis confirms general trends that firearm-related violence is generally a ‘male’ phenomenon; however, when it comes to the family context, men still present a majority of perpetrators, but most victims of firearm-related incidents are women. Based on the main conclusions, we will end with recommendations for preventing and suppressing firearm-related homicides in the family context.