ZAGREB, October 16, 2019 - "Justice for girls" is the slogan of a protest rally that has been announced for 10am on October 19 in Zagreb in a show of support for all victims of sexual violence who do not receive appropriate protection from the justice system.

The protest is prompted by the rape of a minor in the Zadar area and the decision by the investigating judge to release from pre-trial custody five young men suspected of repeated rape, sexual exploitation, blackmail and physical and mental harassment of a 15-year-old girl, which lasted for a year.

"By releasing the persons suspected of these serious crimes, the judiciary is endangering the victim's safety, life and dignity. We invite you to speak out loud against the system that supports violence. Impunity is a crime," the organisers said on social media.

The protest is organised by the Platform for Reproductive Rights, the #spasime (save me) initiative, Women's Room - Centre for Sexual Rights and the Solidarna human rights and solidarity foundation.

Peaceful protests have also been announced for Saturday in the coastal cities of Zadar, Split, Rijeka and Pula and the eastern city of Osijek.

More news about the status of women in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, September 21, 2019 - Gender Equality Ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić said on Saturday that violence against women, whether physical or verbal, perpetuated the unequal balance of power between women and men in society, adding that legal changes were just one segment of the fight against domestic violence.

Croatia observes National Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women on September 22 in memory of the day in 1999 when, during a divorce hearing at the Zagreb Municipal Court, three women were killed and a female court employee was seriously injured.

Speaking on Croatian Radio, Ljubičić said 535 crimes in which women were victims of domestic violence were recorded in 2018 as against 639 in the first eight months of this year.

She said there was no clear distinction between the misdemeanour and criminal aspect of domestic violence, adding that more than 10,000 such misdemeanours were recorded in Croatia annually.

Ljubičić noted that under new amendments to the penal code and the law on protection from domestic violence, physical violence was no longer treated as a misdemeanour. "We believe that some progress will be made."

She said dealing with domestic violence was not one-dimensional and underlined the need to establish procedure protocols for everyone involved in protection from domestic violence.

Legal changes are just one sphere of dealing with domestic violence as, aside from laws, there are other ways to protect and help, including psychological support, shelters and free legal aid, Ljubičić said, adding that the bulk of the funding for such protection came from the state budget.

Local communities should also provide major funding for their shelters and help centres, she said. "So far, they have been allocating 1% for gender budgeting, which is not enough. There should be synergy in decision making at the national and local levels."

Ljubičić said that in terms of norms, Croatia had defined itself over the past 20 years as a society with zero tolerance towards any form of violence. She added, however, that cases of violence on a daily basis, including sexist and verbal violence by public office holders, perpetuated the unequal balance of power between men and women in society.

More news about the status of women in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 12, 2019 - The government will send into public procedure law amendments introducing stricter penalties for domestic violence and violence against women, including the qualification of sexual intercourse without consent as rape, which will be punishable with three to ten years' imprisonment, Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković said on Wednesday.

He was speaking to the press after representatives of organisations and institutions protecting domestic violence victims met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Bošnjaković said the amendments would be put up for public consultation soon and then to government and parliament. "They are envisaged to enter into force on January 1 next year."

Three laws will be amended - the Penal Code, the Protection from Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Procedure Act.

We are increasing the severity of the penal policy for crimes related to domestic violence because we have made penalties stricter, and we also want to deter potential perpetrators, the minister said.

Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act envisage solutions aimed at stepping up the procedure and preventing it from taking too long and being obstructed, he added.

He highlighted the "redesign of the crime of rape", saying that until now this qualification required the use of force and there was a separate crime - sexual intercourse without consent. He said the amendments qualified the latter crime as rape and stipulated stricter penalties.

Bošnjaković said all proposals and remarks made during the public consultation would be analysed for inclusion in the amendments.

Maja Maula of the Women's Room said the qualification of sexual intercourse without consent as rape and imprisonment of three to ten years for rape were very significant changes for all those who worked with sexual violence survivors whereby the legislator was clearly saying that this behaviour would no longer be tolerated.

She said the crime of sexual intercourse without consent had been problematic, notably with regard to rape committed in marriage.

Nova Tolle of the Autonomous Women's House Zagreb said the amendments achieved a lot, improving the Penal Code, but that she was not too happy with the Protection from Domestic Violence Act and that she expected more significant changes during the next step they agreed today.

Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Minister Vesna Bedeković said a road map had been made for establishing safe houses in the six counties without any.

More news about status of women in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 30, 2019 - The Croatian Journalists Association (HND) on Thursday asked Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić to apologise for a sexist attack on N1 Television reporter Matea Dominiković, calling on journalists and editors to boycott Bandić's public appearances.

The HND strongly condemned Bandić's latest sexist outburst and joined journalists in their request that he apologise.

The HND said that with his latest comments, Bandić, who is also the president of the BM 365 Work and Solidarity Party, did not want to humiliate only Dominiković but journalists in general, and that this was not his first shameful outburst before the press, especially women journalists.

On Tuesday, Dominiković was asking Bandić about Zagreb's zoning plan and other topics and his response was: "You again. You nag. If only you knew how you excite me, how you delight me, how you entertain me."

The response has been strongly condemned by the city's Gender Equality Commission and Gender Equality Ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić, who called it sexual harassment.

More news about Zagreb mayor can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 19, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that no objection had been sent from other countries-signatories of the Istanbul Convention to Croatia regarding the interpretative statement accompanying the ratification law, which was why Plenković underscored that no lies or fears disseminated during the anti-ratification campaign had come true.

On 13 April 2018, Croatia ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence with 110 votes in favour, 30 against and two abstentions, and along with ratifying the Istanbul Convention, the 151-seat parliament also adopted an interpretive statement which states that the purpose of the convention is protection of women against any form of violence, that its provisions do not contain any obligation to introduce 'gender ideology' in Croatia's legal and education system, and that the convention is in line with Croatian constitutional provisions, notably those concerning protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the definition of marriage.

A deadline for submitting objections to the Interpretative Statement passed on Saturday, 15 June.

The fact that there is no objection from other signatories means that they agree with that statement and this proves that the statement has been prepared in a careful, responsible manner in consultation with Croatian legal experts and the legal service of the Council of Europe, Plenković said.

This also shows that Croatia has a responsible government and those who are well versed with international regulations and that the awareness of domestic violence is raised, he added.

The problem of family violence is something that should be addressed not only by nongovernmental authorities but also by the authorities, political parties and institutions, he underscored.

During today's meeting, the Plenković cabinet adopted a protocol for conduct in cases of domestic violence and the document will be available on the websites of several ministries.

More news about Istanbul Convention can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 15, 2019 - Over 160,000 kuna was raised on Friday to help and protect victims of domestic violence at a #SPASIME Fund charity event organised by the #SPASIME Initiative and the SOLIDARNA Human Rights and Solidarity Foundation.

The money was raised at an auction of works by Croatian artists and via a call centre. Present were public, cultural and political figures, including Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković and Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Minister Nada Murganić.

The #SPASIME Fund was established by the #SPASIME Initiative and the SOLIDARNA Foundation, which are raising funds until the end of July for financial, legal, psychological, medical and housing assistance to victims.

Prime Minister Plenković underlined that the government had joined the #SPASIME Initiative. He recalled that earlier in the day he met with the heads of six counties which still have no safe houses, announcing that this problem should be resolved by the end of the year with the help of EU funds.

"I remind you that last year we ratified the Istanbul Convention. Nothing negative has happened. The government has drawn up a document which says which institution does what. A hotline was also opened at which one can get help around the clock. It's also important to work on education, so that one learns from an early age that violence is wrong," he said.

Plenković said VAT would not have to be paid on the funds raised at the event.

Murganić said there were 1,381 complaints against welfare centres last year and that her ministry looked into every case. "Social services are outdated, so we'll amend the law," she added.

As for amendments to laws on domestic violence and violence against women, Minister Bošnjaković said "three laws are being amended. Our goal is to be faster and more efficient."

More news about the status of women can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, June 2, 2019 - The #SPASIME initiative and the SOLIDARNA foundation for human rights and solidarity on Sunday presented the Fond#SPASIME fund for helping and protecting victims of violence and announced a big campaign to collect funds for financial, legal, psychological, medical and housing assistance to victims.

According to Interior Ministry data, 10,272 persons were reported last year for domestic violence, down 10.7% on 2017, but 3,198 crimes with elements of violence between close persons were recorded, up 5.5% from 2017. Domestic violence was committed 623 times in 2018, up 11% from 2017.

"It's essential that the victims be urgently taken care of, financially, legally, medically, that they be enabled to talk with an expert or provided with safe accommodation far from the bully," said Jelena Veljača, who launched the #SPASIME initiative in March.

She called on everyone to participate and donate by calling 060 9003. Everyone has the right to a safe life and we are all entitled to a violence-free society, she said.

The payments can also be made into the Croatian Postal Bank's account HR8023900011500151640 or via the Indiegogo website (https://igg.me/at/fond-spasime).

More news about the status of women in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, March 24, 2019 - Croatia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Marija Pejčinović Burić, took part in a conference of the World Assembly for Women, held in Tokyo on March 22-24, as part of her working visit to Japan, her ministry said.

The main theme of this year's conference of the World Assembly for Women was diversity.

The purpose of the initiative is to connect women that head states, governments or ministries or hold leading positions in the corporate sector in the context of the empowerment of women in society.

The main guest at the event was Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2014, and the conference was also addressed by Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Pejčinović Burić attended two panel discussions, the closing one and a panel discussion on the importance of the promotion of diversity in the media.

The Croatian minister also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to whom she conveyed an invitation by Croatian PM Andrej Plenković to visit Croatia.

More news about the Foreign Ministry can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 23, 2019 - Some of the gender equality indicators in Croatia, such as the number of boys and girls enrolled in primary and secondary schools, continue to be good, however, there has been no significant progress on other indicators such as labour market equality, female entrepreneurship, the role of women in politics and business, the status of Roma women, inequalities between rural and urban areas and the inclusion of the LGBT community, shows a gender equality analysis of the World Bank.

The analysis has detected the biggest gap in the possibility to make economic earnings considering the fact that a large number of women, youth, pensioners and members of minority groups do not have access to the labour market.

The unemployment rate among women is 19% higher than unemployment among men, and women account for 57.4% of groups that lack access to the labour market, it was said at a presentation of the World Bank analysis in Zagreb.

Women in Croatia are educated successfully at all levels, including institutions of higher education, but that does not automatically mean a higher rate of their participation in the labour market.

There is a huge gender gap among workers in Croatia, shows the report, presented by a World Bank senior expert on social development, Tara Sharafudeen, and World Bank data processing expert Paul Andres Corral Rodas.

Compared to 71% of employed active men, only 61% of active women have a paying job. For women the situation changes in the course of life - initially the level of their employment is similar to men's but in time their participation in the labour market declines.

Men in Croatia earn much more than women. The average monthly pay for women accounts for around 88% of the average pay for men, and women who work earn less than men throughout their life.

The pay gap leads to a gap in pensions, which is why after leaving the labour market women face social exclusion, poverty and financial dependence on their spouse or partner.

As many as 32% of women in Croatia aged 25-64 have been inactive due to obligations related to care while only 12% of men do household chores.

Poverty among elderly women is 35% higher than poverty among elderly men, which is especially worrying considering estimates that elderly women will be making up 15% of Croatia's population by 2035.

The Roma minority is the most socially excluded minority group, and inequality starts early for Roma girls and grows stronger in time. As many as 78% of Roma girls leave school early compared to 60% of Roma boys. Only 6% of Roma girls complete secondary or a higher level of education as against 24% of Roma males. With an 82% rate for women and a 72% rate for men Croatia has Europe's second highest rate, after Spain, of Roma who are not included in the education system, labour market or some type of training. Roma women in Croatia do the least paying jobs in the entire Southeast Europe.

LGBT persons in Croatia face a high level of discrimination, violence and harassment which significantly exceeds the EU average. According to the World Bank report, in 2012, 60% of LGBT respondents said they had been victims of violence and harassment, often in public places, and more than a half said they avoid public places as they do not feel safe there. One in four respondents who had a job in the period of 12 months before the survey felt discriminated against at work in the previous year for stating their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Croatia has one of the lowest employment rates in the EU and women are much less likely to become entrepreneurs than men. Only three percent of women aged 25-29 are entrepreneurs. Older women are more inclined to start their own business and the rate is slightly higher (8.5%) in the 60-64 age group. At the same time, only 12% of households have women in the highest positions.

Gender Equality Ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić said that society has the duty to provide equal opportunities of success to men and women because the entire society benefits from that.

More news about gender equality in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 19, 2019 - Prime Minister and HDZ president Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday the party's Pozega City Council deputy chairman, Igor Krizmanić, who has been accused of domestic violence by his daughter, has suspended all of his party duties and that this was "a clear message that the (ruling party) does not tolerate violence."

"The message we sent since being in power is that we have no tolerance to violence. We recognised this horrible social phenomenon which exists... but with all the mechanisms state authorities have at their disposal, we need to do everything to prevent violence, to harshly punish perpetrators, help victims, bolster institutions and raise public awareness," Plenković told reporters.

Asked what ministers were doing if citizens had to hold a protest to point to violence, he said a lot was being done in implementing the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Plenković said there had been no self-promotion in the fact that he attended Saturday's protest against violence. "There was, recognising the problem, having sympathy for those who experienced violence, respecting the initiative that (organised the protest)."

He said the government had addressed the problem but that state mechanisms, because of the law, institutional shortcomings and insufficient coordination, had not tackled it. He said these were processes that took time and that it was good that citizens and initiatives pointed to the extent of violence.

"The (Istanbul) Convention went into force on October 1, after which we signed a protocol on cooperation between ministries, after which the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy prepared a protocol on the procedures of every department with regard to protection from violence which will be put to public consultation this week."

Plenković said Croatia's implementation of the Convention would be overseen as of 2020 by the GREVIO expert group. "The Council of Europe learned from experience that it takes at least three to four years to implement legislative novelties."

Commenting on recent local elections in Lika County, he said it would not be possible to form a ruling majority without the HDZ and that the HDZ wished to "improve the quality of life of the people who live there and to implement projects worth about 900 million kuna in European Union funds."

Commenting on the recent discovery of a missing file on police leaks in the Zagreb Municipal Prosecutor's Office archives related to an elite prostitution investigation from 2011, Plenković said, "It's better that it was found than that someone had taken it."

He also commented on media reports that the manager of the Krka National Park, Nella Slavica, had been a member of both the HDZ and the HNS parties at the same time. "Under our statute, she can't be in two parties."

Asked if this offence was enough to fire her, he said he did not know if it was an offence and that the matter should be checked first.

More news about the HDZ can be found in the Politics section.