By marking the National Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on September 22nd, we want to once again draw attention to the problem of violence as a social problem that violates fundamental human rights.
In relation to the social attitude towards violence against women, we can say that over the years the perception has changed, so that domestic violence is no longer seen exclusively as a "private matter", and the public realizes that it is a social problem. Progress is also visible in the area of legislative regulations related to the prosecution and punishment of domestic violence, and it is expected that the new package of legal amendments will contribute to even more effective protection of victims of violence in criminal and misdemeanor proceedings and more adequate punishment of perpetrators. There is a clear need for the urgent development of a long-term strategy that will take into account all forms of violence against women, adopt targeted measures aimed at addressing the specific needs of all groups of victims, especially women who are exposed or could be exposed to multiple discrimination, on which unfortunately there is little research and case law at the moment.
In the first eight months of this year, a total of 1,000 beneficiaries approached the BaBe association for help, 426 of whom were related to the issue of domestic violence, while in the same period, our Safe House provided accommodation for 51 people, specifically 22 women and 29 children, victims of domestic violence. In the cases of our beneficiaries, most of them are combined forms of violence, from psychological, physical and economic violence to online violence. We cannot speak of a predominant form of violence.
We believe that Croatian society should finally devote itself to the comprehensive well-being of victims. Judicial proceedings are only one aspect of victim protection, and as an association we witness that there are deep problems and great uncertainty for many victims in terms of financial security, housing, economic independence and achieving other conditions for moving away from violence. Unfortunately, despite numerous changes in the systematic improvement of the position of victims, many women still face the problem of meeting basic existential needs for themselves and their children, collecting maintenance and dividing property they have acquired in a marital or extramarital relationship, and we hope that further steps by society as a whole will be directed towards ensuring that reporting violence does not mean uncertainty, struggling with poverty and other life problems that many victims experience.
We also advocate for the actual implementation of longer prison sentences and the consistent application of protection measures even after serving the prison sentence, because the time the perpetrator spends in prison is also a guarantee of the victim's safety, which is also one of the essential prerequisites for the recovery of victims and a new life without violence. We welcome every effort by the state to focus on education and sensitization of experts in the field of justice, and as an association we continue to be available with our knowledge and experience to all those who want to learn about the challenges that victims go through in judicial proceedings and proceedings before the Institute for Social Welfare.
We hereby call on all stakeholders in society to have zero tolerance for any form of violence. What we believe is most needed by the system is education, awareness-raising and mutual cooperation of all factors in the system of support for women victims of violence. We also hereby emphasize that the long-standing provision of legal and psychosocial assistance in the BaBe association is still active on a daily basis, and we invite all victims of violence to contact us with confidence at 01 4663 666.
