On Monday, March 6, a thematic session of the Committee on Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities was held on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the so-called Istanbul Convention.
The Chairman of the Committee, Milorad Pupovac, opened the session by emphasizing that the Istanbul Convention provides a multidimensional legal framework for the protection of women from all forms of violence, and added that so far 17 member states of the European Union have ratified the Convention, and it has been announced that Luxembourg, Greece and the Czech Republic will also do so this year. If Croatia does not ratify it in 2018, we would remain among the seven countries that have not completed the process.
The discussion was attended not only by members of parliament, but also by representatives of the Croatian Government, state institutions responsible for human rights protection issues, as well as representatives of the non-governmental sector and civil society organizations.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy Margareta Mađerić did not specify when the Government would submit the law on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention to the parliamentary procedure. Mađerić pointed out that the law has not been submitted to the procedure because not all financial indicators are yet clear.
Most of those present stressed that the Convention, which Croatia signed in 2013, should be ratified by the Parliament as soon as possible. Moreover, several MPs appealed to the HDZ to put the law into procedure on Women's Day, March 8th.
Opponents of the ratification of the Convention at yesterday's Committee meeting were representatives of extremely conservative and clerical associations.
Svjetlana Knežević attended the Board meeting on behalf of the BaBe association.
