What the newly adopted EU Directive on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence prescribes and what we should transpose into Croatian legislation in the next three years was the topic of a multisectoral discussion organized by the BaBe association which is May 28th at the Human Rights House brought together representatives of the civil sector and national and EU institutions and organizations.
This is the second discussion on the prevention and suppression of online violence against women as part of the SURF AND SOUND 2.0 project, which is being implemented by the BaBe association in partnership with the Agency for Electronic Media and associated partners the Judicial Academy and the Police Directorate. The discussion was attended by representatives of ministries, the Ombudsman's Office, the European Commission, the social welfare system, safe houses, as well as lawyers and experts working with victims and perpetrators of gender-based violence.
"Our intention is to stimulate discussion about the new Directive and potential steps we should take to bring it to life. In line with the project we are implementing with our partners, our emphasis here is on the issue of online violence against women, which this Directive clearly recognizes, especially in the areas of harassment, stalking, incitement to hatred and violence, and sharing of sexually explicit content via information and communication technologies," said Leonarda Novoselić, project manager of SURF AND SOUND 2.0.
The deadline for transposing the Directive into national legislation is June 2027, and according to the State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Administration and Digital Transition Vedrane Šimundže-Nikolić, we are in a good position in principle in terms of compliance with the Directive, but there will certainly be legislative amendments.
"Certain interventions in the Criminal Code will be necessary. Especially in the part that relates to the consequences of the misuse of sexually explicit content recordings, which will in the future be prosecuted ex officio, meaning that the victim will no longer have to wait for consent. In this way, the directive strengthens the rights and protection of victims. This act also introduces several new criminal offenses, some of which we can subsume under the criminal offenses we already have, and some we will still have to expand in certain modalities," explained the State Secretary.
She recalled that it was precisely such a discussion from the previous SURF AND SOUND project that resulted in the introduction of an independent criminal offense of misuse of sexually explicit content recordings into domestic legislation. “From July 2021 to today, there have been 41 court cases related to this criminal offense, of which 21 are final, 2 are in the appeal process, while 18 cases are still being tried. Most of these involve milder alternative sanctions – either suspended sentences or community service,” she concluded. Šimundža-Nikolić.
From the experience of working directly with victims of lawyers Ines Bojic, an external associate of the BaBe association, pointed out that online and offline violence overlap and that it is usually not an isolated act of violence. “It is necessary to have several conversations with the victim in order to get a broader picture of the violence, and this is precisely what is missing in the court proceedings. The institution of a trusted person plays a key role in creating a quality indictment, and it needs to be strengthened because it can significantly contribute to a better implementation of the Directive.”
Lawyer Teuta Palcic She emphasized the need for training for social welfare center workers: "In addition, the centers are overcrowded, there are not enough experts, and victims wait too long for psychological help. In such conditions, online violence is simply ignored, it is completely unrecognized."
The discussion concluded that, in addition to improving the legislative framework and judicial practices, a longer-term and more demanding challenge will be prevention. In this section, the indispensable role of the education system was highlighted.
The heads of the Department for Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Against Youth and Families believe that prevention is key Anita Matijevic (Police Directorate) and Nikolina Grubišić Požar (PUZ). "Online violence is on the rise among both adults and children, it is a big dark number and we need to approach it systematically. We need elementary education about online violence, just as children learn to read and write, they should be taught the responsible use of information and communication technologies," she warned. Grubišić Požar"In Croatia, we are implementing an enormous number of projects, but we lack standardization, a list of must-have components that need to be processed through the education system. It is necessary to scan the situation and connect good practices into a systematic education adapted to age," she concluded. Matijevic.
Dean Ajdukovic from the Psychological Assistance Society, assessing all initiatives related to combating online violence as useful, pointed out that educating the younger generation is key: "As kids grow up, they must become aware that what they take pictures of now and share with someone can have long-term harmful consequences for them, they must know that some content is not to be shared."
"It is necessary to educate children in schools about critical thinking and the concept of consent, and there is also a need for education among adults. For the quality implementation of this Directive in its entirety, it is necessary to strengthen mechanisms for specialist assistance to victims and improve the keeping of statistics. However, what we lack most is strategic planning in terms of combating and preventing violence. We have a lot of laws, regulations and ordinances that regulate this area, but we do not have a comprehensive strategy that would connect all systems," she concluded. Tamara Sterk, Deputy Head of the BaBe Association Office
The project "SURF AND SOUND 2.0" is funded by the European Union from the CERD - Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program (2021-2027) and co-financed by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. It is implemented by the BaBe association in partnership with the Agency for Electronic Media and associated partners, the Judicial Academy and the Police Directorate.
Photo: Women and the Media
