ZAGREB, 8 March, 2021 - Women's Network Croatia called on the government on Monday, International Women's Day, to urgently adopt a new national gender equality plan to prevent discrimination against women and a deterioration in their status.
The NGO noted that the fact that the government did not have a systematic policy on gender equality affected all spheres of life and resulted in discrimination against women and a deterioration in their status.
"Today we are seeing an increasing number of reports of domestic violence and the worsening economic status of women," the organisation said in a statement.
Referring to the government's rejection last week of a proposal to introduce a family allowance or a second family pension allowance, Women's Network said that this was a glaring example of the government neglecting the status of women, especially elderly women.
The pay difference is 12% to women's detriment and the pension difference is twice as high. In 91% of cases women are beneficiaries of family pension allowances, which they receive if they do not qualify for a pension or their pension is lower than that of their deceased partner. On the other hand, when one of the spouses dies, the government ignores the fact that both spouses worked together for their pension. It is such situations that drive women into dire poverty in old age, the NGO warned.
Women's Network said that the issue of a second or family pension or a family allowance is not just a matter of pension insurance, but that this concerns gender equality and violations of women's human rights. Women are subjected to structural economic discrimination and are denied the right arising from the matrimonial property regime, the organisation said, urging the government to include gender equality in the proposal to amend the Pension Insurance Act.
