City of Ljubljana has also joined the activities on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

On this occasion the City Hall held a panel discussion entitled “Current Challenges in the Field of Violence against Women”, where they presented various aspects of the situation in the treatment of violence against women in Slovenia. The panel discussion was organised by the Association for Non-violent Communication, Association SOS Help-line and the City of Ljubljana.

Tanja Hodnik, Head of the Department of Social Welfare MOL also participated in the panel discussion who among other things stressed the need for local communities and the state to come to realise that the scope of prevention of violence against women and children lies entirely on the shoulders of non-governmental organisations and that the responsibility of the state and municipalities is in enabling the best possible conditions for their operation.

On this occasion, they also presented the smartphone application “Safe” using which a female individual can quickly call for help of girlfriends or friends or emergency services. She can send an SOS message with the exact location to her closest ones. SOS message can be sent via the smartphone application or for faster transmission via Bluetooth bracelet. The application allows the user to find the nearest institutions on the map, such as the police, medical help, centre for social work and non-governmental organisations which may offer her assistance or to establish a telephone connection with the emergency services. Moreover, the user can fill out an interactive questionnaire with instructions in case she is threatened, and advice on where to turn for help.