The Greens are stepping up to denounce and demand urgent measures from all competent authorities in the face of the increase in murders of women in the city of Zagreb. The Green Party of Croatia expressed its great concern and the need for an urgent reaction of all competent authorities in the prevention of femicide, the cases of which increased especially in the last month. In a significant number of cases, these femicides are committed by perpetrators already reported for their violent behavior towards the victims. For the Greens, this demonstrates an insufficiently effective system of prevention and punishment of gender-based violence.
Considering that four murders of women were committed last month in the city of Zagreb, most of which have the characteristics of the new criminal offense of femicide, party coordinator and mayor Tomislav Tomašević welcomed the introduction of the criminal offense of femicide in the law of the Penal Code, but at the same time it recognizes the inadequacies of the system of prevention and punishment of all forms of gender-based violence, as well as the protection of victims against further escalation of violence, which ends unfortunately by tragic murders of women.
“Regardless of the general strengthening of security in Zagreb, we are witnessing an increase in femicide and other forms of violence against women, which is of particular concern to us and we will continue to strengthen activities at the local level in the field of prevention of violence and the protection of victims. We call on all institutions responsible for recognizing, reporting and addressing violence to prioritize these procedures, to report any suspicion of violence and to prescribe adequate sanctions for perpetrators, in particular precautionary measures in order to prevent as much as possible the repetition and escalation of violence.”
Tomislav Tomašević called on leaders at all levels to commit to systematically and fully implementing all aspects of the Istanbul Convention, and to make the fight against gender-based violence a common social and political priority.
“As a municipal administration committed to the fight against gender-based violence, we give particular priority to the implementation of measures aimed at guaranteeing housing and employment for victims of violence in order to enable women to exit safer from a violent environment We also continuously fund the municipal shelter as well as association programs for which we have increased budgetary allocations, provided free transportation to unemployed women who use shelter accommodation and do not reside in the city of Zagreb, and additional housing capacities for organized housing after leaving the shelters,” said the mayor of the city of Zagreb and coordinator of the Green Party of Croatia.
For Sandra Benčić, also party coordinator, one of the main causes of the escalation of feminicides is the inadequate punishment of the perpetrators and the lack of other protective measures for the victim after the first report of violence. The lack of serious risk assessment, the insufficient prescription and duration of precautionary measures, as well as the frequent relativization of the seriousness of the threat or manifestation of violence by the competent institutions lead to increasingly criminal acts and more violent against women. According to her, for an adequate fight against violence against women, it is necessary to fight against ideas of subordination or inequality of women, to actively fight against the promotion of patriarchal and discriminatory practices and to guarantee to all sufficient capacity levels for direct assistance to victims of violence, including sufficient accommodation capacities.
“All calls for deratification of the Istanbul Convention and failed debates on non-existent gender ideology only distract public and political attention from concrete measures to prevent and protect against gender-based violence, and such useless debates should stop,” she said.
“We will continue to work with dedication at the national and local levels to further develop the system for combating gender-based violence and, through concrete measures and interventions at the city level of Zagreb, we will create good practices to strengthen all institutions and organizations that depend on the city authority, but also insist on better coordination at the state and local levels in the implementation of the Istanbul Convention,” added Benčić, coordinator of the Green Party.
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