The first family center, which is to offer integrated services for psycho-social support of families with conflicting relations and violence opened in Skopje on Monday.

"The center will employ seven people - social worker and psycho-therapists - who will help perpetrators and victims of domestic violence in overcoming the problems their families are faced with", said Minister of Labor and Social Policy Dime Spasov at the opening.

According to him, such family center would, on the long run, improve the access of Skopje citizens to psycho-social services for domestic violence, raise the public awareness over domestic violence, and enhance capacities for non-violent communication and problem settlement in families.

Skopje Mayor Koce Trajanovski said the center's opening was significant, since domestic violence has become a big problem in modern societies.

"This is not just a private family problem, but a serious problem of societies, having an effect on the state's economic development", he added.