Montenegro foster parents arrested for child abuse and trafficking

Police in Cetinje, Montenegro, have arrested foster parents suspected of human trafficking and domestic violence against three minors. According to the Police Administration, the suspects allegedly physically abused the children with hands and wooden objects starting in January 2022. The children were reportedly forced to hide the violence from social work officials, and the eldest child was coerced into performing heavy physical labor for profit and denied an education.

The victims are children whose mother was a victim of femicide in Montenegro. The Center for Women's Rights expressed strong protest, stating that the state failed to protect the children by placing them in a suspicious foster family that it licensed and supervised. The Center claims it had warned relevant institutions in writing and orally as early as February 2022 regarding concerns about the foster parents' treatment of the children, but these warnings were not effectively acted upon.