The National Day Against Violence Against Women is marked to commemorate a triple murder that occurred during a divorce hearing at Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb on 22 September 1999 when a husband killed his wife, her lawyer and the judge and severely injured the recording clerk. It commemorates all women killed in a violent way.
"The problem of violence is present in Croatia and worldwide, and it mostly affects women. It is present in all age groups, regardless of a socio-economic background, origin or education," Murganic told the press in Zagreb.
Violence can be psychological, physical, economic and sexual, and the people most frequently subjected to violence are the most vulnerable and weakest groups, elderly and disabled persons, and children with disabilities, the minister said. "It's awful when violence happens in families, at the hands of the closest relatives or partners, and that's what certainly mobilises and sensitises the public."
Six murders were recorded in Croatia in the first half of this year, and women were victims in five of these cases, Murganic said, noting that in four of these cases women were killed by their partners. She added that 91 women had been killed between 2013 and 2017, accounting for 47 percent of all murders, and in 70 percent of cases they were killed by their partners.
"We were advocating the ratification of the Istanbul Convention because despite the fact that we have good national legislation, we are harmonising the strategies and launching new projects and programmes, we are not pleased with the results, so we all need to work together on this," the minister said.
Gender Equality Ombudsman Visnja Ljubicic said that domestic violence in Croatia was on the decline by five to nine percent annually, but added that domestic violence against women was becoming increasingly brutal. She drew attention to lenient penalties as offenders were often granted conditional release, adding that less than seven percent of prison sentences were unconditional.
Ljubicic said that all stakeholders in society, including media, should promote zero tolerance of violence.