The 61st session was held in Geneva from 6 to 24 July. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), where on July 15, Croatia's consolidated fourth and fifth report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was considered.
The conclusions were formulated on the basis of two submitted reports: one submitted by the associations BaBe and Ženska soba (available here), and the second is the Center for Reproductive Rights, CESI and Roda.
In their report, BaBe and the Women's Room pointed out shortcomings in the implementation of the Convention. One of the problems was that the legislative framework for combating discrimination was not implemented in practice due to a lack of enforcement measures. In relation to Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention, it was pointed out that discrimination against women is most evident in the field of work and employment, where pregnancy and motherhood represent a particular obstacle.
Furthermore, despite the fact that the percentage of highly educated women is higher than the percentage of highly educated men, women are still underrepresented in important social, economic and political positions. Another problem is sexual harassment in the workplace, which is largely tacitly tolerated and underreported.
With this in mind, BaBe and the Women's Room recommended implementing mandatory training for prosecutors and judges; establishing a central registry of cases on the basis of gender discrimination; and monitoring and evaluation by independent experts.
In relation to Article 3 of the Convention, which relates to human rights and fundamental freedoms, it was warned that physical, psychological and economic violence by men against women remains widespread and that there is a need to further improve the prevention and sanctioning system. In addition, domestic violence is still perceived to a significant extent as a private matter, therefore the competent institutions often do not react in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, social welfare centers are not sufficiently sensitized either, and their priority is to preserve the family, often treating the victim and the perpetrator in the same way. The need for better recognition of sexual violence and providing support to women victims of it has also been noted. BaBe and the Women's Room, among other things, recommend training the police so that they can impartially, objectively and professionally determine on the spot who the perpetrator is and who the victim is; ratifying the Istanbul Convention; establishing sustainable cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior and civil society organizations dealing with domestic and gender-based violence; providing structural funds for training civil servants on the methodology for implementing the Protocol on Action in Cases of Sexual Violence; and conducting public campaigns to raise awareness about the problem of domestic and sexual violence and the stigmatization of victims.
As regards education (Article 10 of the Convention), it has been noted that numerous studies show a lack of awareness among citizens about human rights and democratic processes. It is therefore necessary to raise awareness of the importance of civic education and introduce it into the official curriculum, and to this end, in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, adopt a strategic plan.
Finally, a trend towards restricting reproductive rights has been observed (Article 10 – Health), with conscientious objection, which has been raised by entire hospitals, playing a particularly important role. As a result, economically disadvantaged women, especially those in rural areas, have no support or opportunity to exercise their reproductive rights. Strict legal regulation of conscientious objection; the establishment of regional reproductive rights counselling centres; and the abolition of the morning-after pill procedure are recommended.
Following the two reports mentioned above, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on the Government of the Republic of Croatia to take measures, including legislative ones, to ensure adequate safeguards to combat socio-cultural attitudes that create obstacles to the full realization of women's rights. Among other things, the Committee recommends further strengthening legal education and capacity-building programmes for judges, prosecutors and lawyers and facilitating the interpretation of national legislation in accordance with the Convention. It is also necessary to raise awareness among women about the rights guaranteed by the Convention and to encourage them to report cases of discrimination based on sex to the competent institutions.
