The B.a.B.e Association organized 30. and on January 31 this year, an international conference as part of the SURF and SOUND 2.0 project with the aim of strengthening the mechanisms of prevention and suppression of online violence against women. The conference, held in a hybrid form, brought together experts and representatives of institutions and organizations.

Ana Kordej (Ministry of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation) emphasized the importance of harmonizing national legislation with the EU Directive on Combating Violence against Women.

Kristina Bekavac (Judicial Academy) highlighted the success of educational workshops for judicial officials. Josip Popovac (Agency for Electronic Media) identified online violence as one of the key problems of the digital age, while Anita Matijević (Ministry of Interior) warned of the growing trend of abuse of intimate content and romantic scams.

Lawyer Ines Bojić presented data from the association's counseling center, through which 272 people received 456 legal and psychological services in the period from March 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024. 55.9% of reports of online violence were recorded through the NEON platform.

Marina Dimić Vugec (CARNET) spoke about the gender digital divide, and Ivan Ćaleta (Center for Missing and Abused Children) and Edel Beckman (PermessoNegato, Italy) shared their experiences in preventing digital violence.

The second day of this international conference presented different perspectives on combating gender-based online violence, as well as the challenges and technical aspects of the misuse of intimate photos.

Kristina Kemešić (Ministry of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation) spoke about the legislative regulation of criminal offences related to online violence against women. Regarding the occurrence of the criminal offence of misuse of sexually explicit content recordings, she pointed out that since its introduction into the Criminal Code until 22 January 2025, 32 final judgments and 35 non-final judgments have been issued, all of which are convictions. There are currently 16 criminal cases pending.

Olga Jurasz (Centre for Protecting Women Online, The Open University, UK and independent expert of the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Combating Technology-mediated Violence against Women and Girls) presented data from a 2023 survey on online violence in the United Kingdom, highlighting the problem of normalization of online violence and the worrying fact that young women are the least likely to report violence.

Tomás Grencho (APAV, Safer Internet Helpline, Portugal) presented the work of the SOS line and the platform for reporting online violence and presented examples of online stalking and online abuse using content generated using artificial intelligence and deepfake technology.

Milena Vasić (Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights - YUCOM, Serbia) pointed out that Serbia has not yet introduced the criminal offense of publishing intimate content without consent and stated the need to strengthen the prosecutor's capacity for high-tech crime.

Boris Radanović (STOP NCII.org and UK Safer Internet Centre, UK) pointed out that STOP NCII.org is the only free tool in the world that allows us to protect our photos preventively.

Domen Savič, Citizen D (Slovenia) spoke about hatred and misogyny on the internet and those who benefit financially from it.

Lucy Qin (Georgetown University, USA) spoke about research results and recommendations for combating the abuse of intimate content.

The project "SURF AND SOUND 2.0" is funded by the European Union from the CERD program - Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values ​​(2021-2027) and co-financed by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. It is implemented by B.a.B.e association in partnership with the Agency for Electronic Media and associated partners, the Judicial Academy and the Police Directorate.

Association B.a.B.e . Be active. Be emancipated. invites you to an international conference within the SURF & SOUND 2.0 project, financed by the European Union's CERV program, which will be held 30. and January 31, 2025 online via the ZOOM app.

The conference will address the current and important issue of online violence against women , with the aim of changing attitudes and behaviors among professionals, improving prevention and suppression mechanisms, and encouraging long-term structural changes to end gender-based online violence.

The conference is being held as part of the SURF and SOUND 2.0 project, which is aimed at combating online violence against women. The project is led by the B.a.B.e association. Be active. Be emancipated, and is being implemented in partnership with the Agency for Electronic Media and with the support of the Ministry of the Interior and the Judicial Academy.

Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81878214629?pwd=xznPAhuvwYDBptCEMtgglefZlZfbId.1

Meeting ID: 818 7821 4629

Passcode: babe2025

On 12 December 2024, a conference entitled “Reconciling Family and Work Life: The Contribution of Trade Unions in Advocating for Change” was held at the Human Rights House in Zagreb, organized by B.a.B.e association as part of the Thematic Systematic Support of the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society. This conference, focused on trade unions, is the third in a row within the aforementioned project, and brought together a number of experts who discussed the challenges of balancing private and professional life. The conference was opened by Petra Kontić, president of the B.a.B.e association, who also presented a promotional video from the “Equality without Excuses” campaign.

Krešimir Sever, President of the Economic and Social Council and the Independent Trade Union Solidarnost, spoke about the importance of balancing professional obligations and family responsibilities. He emphasized that parents often do not find enough time for their families, which affects the functioning of the family and the mental health of children. “We live next to each other, not with each other,” he said, emphasizing the need for social solidarity and better organization of working hours.

Darije Hanzalek, president of the Independent Croatian Trade Unions, warned of the dangers of losing acquired labor rights and stressed the need for modern demographic policies. He paid special attention to women's working conditions and topics such as menstruation, menopause and motherhood. He pointed out that Croatia has yet to introduce changes like those in Spain, which last year introduced the right to menstrual leave.

Ana Vračar from the Base for Workers' Initiative and Democratization presented the Women's Trade Union School project and the importance of increasing the visibility of women in trade unions and political processes. “Men still dominate trade union structures, even where women make up the majority of the membership,” she pointed out, emphasizing the need for more active involvement of women in order for trade unions to better adapt to their needs.

Professors from the University of Zadar, Valerija Barada and Marija Šarić, presented sociological aspects of the everyday challenges of working parents in Croatia. The discussion covered the differences in family and work roles between men and women.

Finally, Ljubica Matijević-Vrsaljko, a retired lawyer and former Ombudsman for Children, shared her experience working with single-parent families. She highlighted the particular difficulties single parents face in balancing private and professional obligations, including challenges in advancement and access to education. “More than half of single-parent families cannot provide their children with basic needs,” she warned.

We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition as part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" , which will be held on Monday, December 16, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., at the Unity Plant in Zagreb (Trnjanska struga 34). The exhibition is organized by the association B.a.B.e . Be active. Be emancipated. , and will be open to visitors until Thursday, December 19, 2024.

With this exhibition, we want to draw attention to the problem of unequal division of household chores in the family, where most of the burden still falls on women, who participate in these chores in a significantly higher percentage. Men often miss out on everyday household duties, citing reasons such as: " I never learned to do it.", "I don't have that habit.", "I'm better at other things.", "It's not for me.", "Tell me what to do and I'll do it." . At the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to study steps and advice that encourage equal involvement of all family members in household chores. With a common understanding and division of responsibilities, everyone can contribute to a fairer and happier family environment.

The exhibition is part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" which is implemented within the framework of the Thematic Systematic Support of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development in the area of ​​'Reconciling private and professional life'. Through the campaign, we aim to stimulate a broader social debate and raise awareness about a more equal distribution of household chores.

We look forward to your arrival!

We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition as part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" , which will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., at the Pazin City Library (Šetalište Pazin High School 1A). The exhibition is organized by the association B.a.B.e . Be active. Be emancipated. , and will be open to visitors until Friday, December 13, 2024.

With this exhibition, we want to draw attention to the problem of unequal division of household chores in the family, where most of the burden still falls on women, who participate in these chores in a significantly higher percentage. Men often miss out on everyday household duties, citing reasons such as: " I never learned to do it.", "I don't have that habit.", "I'm better at other things.", "It's not for me.", "Tell me what to do and I'll do it." . At the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to study steps and advice that encourage equal involvement of all family members in household chores. With a common understanding and division of responsibilities, everyone can contribute to a fairer and happier family environment.

The exhibition is part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" which is implemented within the framework of the Thematic Systematic Support of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development in the area of ​​'Reconciling private and professional life'. Through the campaign, we aim to stimulate a broader social debate and raise awareness about a more equal distribution of household chores.

We look forward to your arrival!

As part of the B.a.B.e project, which is being implemented with the support of the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, on November 29, 2024, the second thematic conference entitled 'Reconciling family and work life: the role of employers in creating balance' was held at the premises of the Croatian Employers' Association. The conference brought together numerous experts who spoke about this current topic, and a video from the 'Equality without excuses' campaign was premiered.

The president of the B.a.B.e association, Petra Kontić, opened the conference by emphasizing that the main goal of the conference is to identify obstacles in working practices that can be changed without significant investment, which will benefit both employees with small children and employers, taking into account the difficulties faced by working parents. As an interesting part of the research, she particularly highlighted the statements of male respondents who said that they do not participate in household chores because they do not know how, and that is why, in the campaign with the motto 'If you don't know, learn. Let's share the chores at home', in collaboration with designer Goga Golik , we have provided ten instructions on how to perform simple household chores.

The Gender Equality Ombudsperson Višnja Ljubičić spoke about the importance of balancing work and private life, and in this context the position of women in the labor market, creating conditions for the active inclusion of women in the labor market through appropriate balancing of work and private life, the activities of the Ombudsperson institution, including those from the EU Ombudsperson project "Towards real equality between men and women: balancing professional and family life".

Anita Džapo from the Croatian Employers' Association stressed that employers should provide employees with both flexible working conditions and adequate support. She suggested the possibility of working from home or remotely as concrete measures. She particularly highlighted the importance of lifelong learning and the need for more active engagement of local authorities in solving problems such as the lack of kindergartens and preschool teachers.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Ksenija Klasnić from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, Department of Sociology, addressed the gap between the theory and practice of gender inequality in unpaid domestic work in Croatia. She emphasized that changing the position of women is made more difficult by the transmission of unequal relations to new generations, with girls copying their mothers and boys copying their fathers. She also added that, unfortunately, there is no country in which complete gender equality has been achieved.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Valerija Barada from the University of Zadar addressed the situation of working parents in Croatia, emphasizing that men are increasingly involved in childcare, while women still bear the brunt of other aspects of household responsibilities. She presented the results of research conducted in 2022 and 2023, which examined what family life is like in Croatia and what changes could improve their situation. The research in six Croatian regions revealed, among other things, that women are more likely to work part-time, while as many as 15% of women in the coastal region were employed "in the black". She described the stigma and ridicule that men faced for taking parental leave as particularly worrying.

Dr. Sc. Blanka Čop from the Faculty of Law in Split warned that the conflict between private and work life negatively affects the quality of life, health and productivity of employees. She particularly highlighted the problem of overlapping work and private obligations, noting that the results of the survey showed that 54.7% of respondents were contacted by employers outside of working hours, while 46% worked overtime. When it comes to sick leave due to a child's illness, mothers more often took on this responsibility (64%), while the fact that 18% of respondents did not have the opportunity to use sick leave in such situations is worrying. On the other hand, 60% of respondents had the opportunity to perform private obligations during working hours, but here too men were in a more favorable position, because they used this opportunity more often.

Asst. Ph.D. sc. Željka Zdravković from the University of Zadar spoke about the working conditions of young people in Croatia and presented the results of research on the transition of young people from adolescence to adulthood, with finding their first paid job, entering into a marriage/partnership and becoming a parent being some of the most important life events. The research showed the presence of gender differences in the labor market, while working conditions are the most important predictors of young people becoming independent from their parents, entering into a life partnership and becoming a parent.

The lecture was followed by a panel on examples of good practices of employers who encourage the creation of a positive work environment, which was attended by representatives of various companies: Andreja Gracin (Telemach), Antonija Vojnović (Span), Danijela Haralović (Helen Doron), Martina Bastašić (Undabot) and Kristina Volf (Brigada).

The participants presented a range of measures that their companies are implementing to make it easier for employees to reconcile family and work life. These measures include free medical check-ups, gifts for newborns, paid leave to take a child to the doctor, a day off on the first day of school, reboarding for mothers returning from maternity or parental leave to adapt to changes in the workplace, flexible working arrangements, remote work, flexible working hours, breastfeeding rooms, and the organization of family days within the company. These measures show how employers can actively contribute to the balance between employees' work and private obligations.

The conference brought together 38 participants from various sectors, including representatives of employers, ministries, local authorities, academia, civil society and the media, which enabled a dynamic exchange of experiences and ideas. It is expected that the conclusions of the conference will contribute to the design of concrete measures and initiatives to facilitate the reconciliation of family and work life in Croatia.

We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition as part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" , which will be held on Monday, December 2, 2024 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Rijeka (University Avenue 4). The exhibition is organized by the association B.a.B.e . Be active. Be emancipated. , and will be open to visitors until Friday, December 6, 2024.

With this exhibition, we want to draw attention to the problem of unequal division of household chores in the family, where most of the burden still falls on women, who participate in these chores in a significantly higher percentage. Men often miss out on everyday household duties, citing reasons such as: " I never learned to do it.", "I don't have that habit.", "I'm better at other things.", "It's not for me.", "Tell me what to do and I'll do it." . At the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to study steps and advice that encourage equal involvement of all family members in household chores. With a common understanding and division of responsibilities, everyone can contribute to a fairer and happier family environment.

The exhibition is part of the campaign "Equality without excuses" which is implemented within the framework of the Thematic Systematic Support of the National Foundation for Civil Society Development in the area of ​​'Reconciling private and professional life'. Through the campaign, we aim to stimulate a broader social debate and raise awareness about a more equal distribution of household chores.

We look forward to your arrival!