ZAGREB, November 11, 2019 – The Women’s Room nongovernmental organisation warned on Monday that it was overburdened as the only organisation in the country specialising in assistance to women – victims of sexual violence, and it called on the government to ensure funding for its work.
“The issue of sexual violence has attracted great public interest and the Women’s Room has been contacted by a large number of persons who have experienced violence, whether sexual or domestic, as well as by other members of the public, media and representatives of state institutions and civil society organisations,” the NGO’s coordinator, psychologist Maja Mamula, said.
She said that in October 2019 the number of phone calls to the NGO and the services it provided had increased by 200% from October 2018. In 2018, the NGO provided assistance in 57 cases, while this year there have been 280 cases, she said, warning that the number of threats to the Women’s Room staff had increased as well.
“We are overburdened at the moment, and we want to continue working well and need support for that. Without support, we cannot provide timely assistance in crisis situations in which (the victims) must not wait,” said Mamula.
Antonija Hojt Ilić, who is in charge of the Women’s Room education programmes, said that the Women’s Room had nine staff members, of whom four were professionals and worked at the NGO’s centre for assistance to victims of sexual violence, with several external staff members.
Of the four professionals, only one is fully employed at the centre, Hojt Ilić said, calling on the government to ensure funding for the Women’s Room as part of annual budgets.
More news about the status of women in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
