On November 28, 2022, Ambassador Judy Rising Reinke gave remarks at the conference “Safe and Protected through Amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro,” as part of the Aware.Safe.Protected project implemented by the nongovernmental organization Prima. The project, funded by the U.S. Embassy through the 2021 Democracy Commission Small Grant Program, aims to raise awareness about the issue of revenge pornography in Montenegro, advocate for its criminalization, encourage prevention efforts, and assist victims.
In July 2022, the Ministry of Justice, in large part due to Prima’s lobbying, proposed amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro and put the changes to public discussion. The amendments are now in the process of being verified for concurrence with EU regulations before they are put to vote in the Parliament of Montenegro.
The conference “Safe and Protected through Amendments to the Criminal Code of Montenegro” was the final event of the Aware.Safe.Protected project, which ends on December 11, 2022. The goal of the event was to gather NGO, parliament, and government experts to discuss the issue, raise awareness, and highlight the need to address it. The event was organized during the United Nations “Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence” campaign.