The conference discussed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, with participants underlining the need for Croatia to ratify the document as soon as possible. They were also agreed that although legislation regarding violence against women and domestic violence is aligned with European legislation, in practice it is a different matter.
"Violence against women is the most widespread violation of human rights in the world and this is cause for concern," said Parliament Speaker Josip Leko.
Voicing confidence that Croatia would soon sign the Convention, he said it incorporated the best models and practices in force in European societies.
"Violence is evil and a shame for those who use it and not for the victims of this evil, which is something that should be realised," said President Ivo Josipovic.
Violence against women is deeply ingrained not only in Croatian society but around the world and its scale varies from country to country, he said.
"During the war, violence against women was especially dramatic and for the first time in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, rape appeared as a means of combat and a way of how to use this horrific act to wage war and carry out ethnic cleansing," said the president.
The conference heard about the ratification of the Convention and the advocacy of its ratification in European countries. Also presented was an analysis of the alignment of Croatian legislation with the Convention.