ZAGREB, February 27, 2019 - The Zagreb-based community counselling centre "Luka Ritz" held an open-door event on Wednesday to mark the national anti-bullying day and raise awareness of the importance of prevention as the most effective way to fight peer violence, with Mayor Milan Bandić and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović attending.
The counselling centre has operated as a city public institution since October 2017, providing counsel and support with the aim of eradicating factors that lead to peer violence and other behavioural problems in youth.
"Over the past year and a half, we had 800 clients and provided more than 3,000 services, with boys aged 10-17 and their mothers being the most frequent clients," said the head of the centre, Ivana Jolić.
According to the centre's statistics, most of those who sought counselling did so because they had problems related to parenting and problems in family relations, with 17.5% having been found to have experienced some form of violence.
Two-thirds of the centre's clients have experienced domestic or partner violence, while 34% have experienced peer violence.
After visiting the centre, President Grabar-Kitarović said that family had the key role in fighting peer violence. "Family and parenting is the foundation of everything, but we must not leave everything to parents because they are often confused and do not know how to react to what their child does or to what other children do to their child," said the president.
The Zagreb counselling centre was named after Luka Ritz, an 18-year-old from Zagreb who was beaten up by a group of five youths in 2008 and died in hospital several days later as a result of injuries sustained in the attack.
Anti-Bullying Day, also called Pink Shirt Day, is marked globally on the last Wednesday in February. It commemorates support to a boy who became a victim of peer violence for wearing a pink shirt as a sign of support for his ill mother.
Croatia has been marking Anti-Bullying Day since 2017.
More news on the children’s issue in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.
