Towards Night march For Women's Day on Monday, March 3, a panel discussion was held called 'Get Informed, Be Emancipated: What is the Istanbul Convention Really?', organized by the human rights organization Baby and informal feminist collective fACTIVE.
The event focused on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which has been the subject of numerous social controversies over the past year. The panel discussion was attended by lawyers Ines Bojic in front of the BaBe association, activist Jelena Tešija in front of the feminist collective fAKTIV and Zeljka Boric, who, through her examples of ten-year legal battles with the domestic judiciary and the final verdict in her favor at the European Court of Human Rights, pointed out the shortcomings of the current system in combating and preventing violence against women.
"While conservative and clerical currents manipulate the content of the Convention, frightening citizens with the non-existent term 'gender ideology', the public is deprived of the real purpose and purpose of this document. The Istanbul Convention is a legally binding international instrument that criminalizes acts such as physical, psychological and sexual violence and sexual harassment, forced marriages, female genital mutilation, forced abortions and is intended to protect women from all forms of violence, prevent the persecution of women and generally contribute to the elimination of violence against women and domestic violence," the event organizers emphasized.
The panel discussion highlighted that ratification of the Istanbul Convention is necessary because today, both the victim and the perpetrator are often punished for misdemeanor punishment of domestic violence (for disturbing public order), the misdemeanor penalty is often a fine, and the prescribed penalties are too low - the minimum penalty for rape is one year, and for sexual intercourse without consent it is six months. In Croatia, five times fewer restraining orders are imposed than in Austria, there is not a single 'rape crisis' center, and we have only one center for victims of sexual violence. It is important to point out that there is a shortage of over 700 places in shelters for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Victim support offices operate in only seven county courts in Croatia, their support is available only in cases that are prosecuted criminally, most cases of domestic violence are prosecuted as misdemeanors. Croatia does not have a national policy that would deal with all forms of violence against women, only for domestic violence.
"Violence against women, or domestic violence, is a multi-layered problem. The European Convention on Human Rights is like a constitution, and the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence is its extension. The Istanbul Convention creates awareness in society about violence against women," emphasized attorney Bojić.
Tešija analyzed the media portrayal of violence against women (from humorous and lifestyle columns to specific cases of violence against women), emphasizing the role of the media in normalizing violence against women, creating and perpetuating this violence. She also looked at the Istanbul Convention from an activist perspective, including an analysis of the demands of the Night March for March 8.
The participants assessed that the system is a fragile link in the prevention and suppression of violence against women, and that it is irresponsible for society not to ratify the Convention in the current social and political circumstances. In addition to educating people from the system (police, judiciary, social welfare centers) and raising awareness among the general public, the Convention provides a support system for victims of violence and their families.
