Culture as the most creative and vivid field was always perceived as an area which is able to boost public awareness on important policies and activities. Its role and potentials have been fully expanded in the period of lock-down caused by pandemic of COVID 19, when despite physical and in some cases social isolation, culture reached every single individual, bringing cultural contents into homes and lives of people. Expansion of social networks and digitalization have additionally broadened culture’s potentials in transforming social patterns and shaping desirable attitudes towards respect of human’s rights.

Women’s rights, as part of human rights, represent one of key priority area through which UNDP CO Montenegro sets standards and drives necessary social change. In previous cycle many efforts have been invested in prevention of the violence against women. Besides policy change and enhancing of the capacities of the institutions to adequately address and prevent this form of violence, it was realized that roots of any form of violence against women has been seeded in traditional patterns and patriarchal context of Montenegrin society. It has become clear that in order to change these narratives and challenge machoistic social norms, the focus should be directed towards everyday life and social and cultural values that Montenegrin society cherishes.

Following that development, UNDP CO Montenegro has strategically set several important goals in the field of culture, with the purpose to raise awareness of importance of gender equality through culture lenses. Having in mind importance of culture in everyday life and its ability to easily adapt to different circumstance, UNDP CO Montenegro has developed several important programmes which were aimed at targeting wider audience with specific cultural products designed specifically for different target groups.

Academic research and analyses

In order to understand where these questionable gender patterns lie and how they have been (re)stored for long period of time, it was necessary to conduct specialist’s research on gender perspective within artistic and expert community of Montenegro. The results which have been recently published have revealed that even in cultural institutions and people working in the field of culture are faced with gender-based stereotypes and prejudices.

The author of the research, PhD Maja Bogojević, has discovered some captivating facts such as that more than 81% women interviewed within her research, which are all working in the field of culture, considers that women are underrepresented in culture and that there is obvious need for more solidarity among women in the field of culture in Montenegro. Bogojević has also revealed that even 90% of interviewed women working in film and theatre agrees that professionalism in these areas is gender conditioned, while 91% of actresses testify about examples of false promises, impossible demands, sadism of the powerful of men, humiliating treatment, derogatory comments for actresses, obsession with their appearances etc.