Women Reversing Invisibility in the Serbian Anti-Corruption Protests

For the past eight months, Serbia has witnessed mass demonstrations from its Gen-Z citizens in response to the catastrophic railway collapse in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people this past November (Associated Press, 2025). These anti-corruption protests target the government for its weak investment in adequate infrastructure, failure to pass reforms, and take accountability for the damages. In recent months, students have been demanding larger changes, mainly snap elections (Euronews 2025) to end the twelve-year rule of President Aleksandr Vucic.

Notably, women have been playing an interesting role in the protests and have used the protests to call attention to other societal issues, mainly domestic violence. In recent years, Serbia has been experiencing high rates of domestic violence, which has been a central issue for feminist activists and organizations in Serbia (Milosavlijevic, 2025; UN Women, 2024). 

Thus, this past March for International Women’s Day, female students led a protest for domestic violence and its victims. Women marched while sending the message that decried “widespread violence against women” (Associated Press, 2025) and held the banner, “Women in the front rows” signaling female solidarity with survivors. Despite Vucic’s government enacting laws on the prevention and protection from domestic violence and other laws on gender equality, there has been no effective enforcement of decreasing the rates of domestic violence (Loncar, 2024).

Although the protest took place only once a few months ago, it is symbolic in the context of the history of women’s protests in Serbia and their efforts to reverse the invisibility of women in times of crisis.

The anti-corruption protests resemble one of the most persistent and peaceful resistance movements in Serbian history, women’s resistance to Milosevic’s regime during the Yugoslav war (Cickaric, 2006; Milosavlijevic, 2025) in which women protested against ethnic-cleansing and militarism. From that point on, women in Serbia became among the principal organizers of Serbian civil society during its reconstruction era, establishing civic organizations and continuing their work in peace advocacy and support for victims of sexual violence, including through street demonstrations. 

Photo by Leonardo Basso on Unsplash

One of the bravest protests came from Women in Black (Khan, 2017) — an organization of women dedicated to peace in the Balkans and vehemently opposed the war— who continuously protested against Milosevic’s regime by standing in silence in Belgrade’s Republic Square, dressed in black, and holding signs protesting ethnic-cleansing. Regarding the recent protests, the female students are drawing from history and showcasing their frustrations through peaceful protests. 

Amplifying the legacy they inherit from Serbia’s early feminists, these female students passionately protest and organize to shed light on domestic violence, advancing the fight for justice and equality. 

Both in the 90’s and today, women refuse to put their gender equality fights on pause, thereby resisting the invisibility norm. Precisely, the invisibility norm encourages women to stop their work in times of crisis and remain silent, thereby reinforcing the traditional social rules (Danielsson & Eriksson, 2020) - the traditional distinction between male and female gender roles. 

The problem, however, is that even when the crisis ends, women remain in the shadows while men receive credit for their contributions and stereotypes persist.  Hence, women’s stories of protesting and fighting for equality are often neglected. 

Yet, women are not surrendering and are using the protests as a source to raise awareness to generate change. The message of anti-corruption and confronting the government on its failures is funneling into other causes, such as the failure to protect women from domestic violence and challenging the government’s efforts to promote gender equality. Thus, women are further criticizing the practices of the Vucic regime and its autocratic practices of promoting gender equality and its defects on enforcements.

Overall, the protests are symbolic in the course that they can potentially inspire change in the realm of gender equality. They empower women by providing a public platform to display their causes and build upon the legacy of female activists from the Yugoslav wars.

Importantly, the protests and their focus on civil disobedience allow women to reverse the norm of invisibility by utilizing the movement to call attention to the government’s ineffective gender equality and domestic violence laws. 

As these protests develop and bring about a stronger democracy for the remainder of 2025,  it is important to consider how they impact each sector of society and how citizens of all backgrounds, genders, and age groups are using these protests to raise awareness of other issues. 

Furthermore, the protests expose the significant failures within the Serbian government that domestic media have largely ignored, potentially accelerating challenges to the stability of the Vučić administration.

Bibliography

1. Associated Press. (2025, March 8). Female students lead protests against corruption in Serbia. Voice of America (VOA News). https://www.voanews.com/a/female-students-lead-protests-against-corruption-in-serbia/8003766.html

2. Cickaric, L. (2006). Nationalism, Ethnic Conflicts, and Women’s Resistance in Serbia. In E. Saurer (Ed.), Womens movements networks and debates in post-communist countries in 19th and 20th centuries (pp. 223–234). Bohlau Verlag.

3. Danielsson, E., & Eriksson, K. (2020). Women’s invisible work in disaster contexts: gender norms in speech on women’s work after a forest fire in Sweden. Disasters, 46(1), 141–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12464

4. Euro News. (2025, June 28). Riot police clash with student-led protesters calling for snap elections in Serbia. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/06/28/student-led-anti-government-protest-in-serbia-calls-for-early-parliamentary-election

5. Kalan, D. (2025, March 14). Serbia’s Femincide Record Undermines Claims of Progress on Women’s Rights. Balkaninsight.com. https://balkaninsight.com/2025/03/14/serbias-femicide-record-undermines-claims-of-progress-on-womens-rights/

6. Khan, A. (2017, June 20). Not in our name: The women in black. Org.uk; Remembering Srebrenica. https://srebrenica.org.uk/what-happened/not-in-our-name-the-women-in-black

   Loncar, J. (2024). Autocratic Genderwashing: Gender-Equality Reforms in Serbia. Politics and Governance, 12, 1–18.

7. Milosavlijevic, T. (2025, April 28). Youth protests in Serbia & violence against women and girls: Are women paying a higher price for justice? WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE EUROPE. https://wave-network.org/youth-protests-in-serbia-and-vawg/

8. Women, U. N. (2024, May 6). New UN Study Reveals Alarming Statistics on Women’s Rights in Serbia. Unwomen.org. https://eca.unwomen.org/en/stories/news/2024/05/new-un-women-study-reveals-alarming-statistics-on-womens-rights-in-serbia

9. Oakes, K. (2022, February 7). The invisible danger of the “glass cliff.” BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220204-the-danger-of-the-glass-cliff-for-women-and-people-of-colour

   
   

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