Croatia will finally join more than 20 countries which have already ratified the convention.
The draft law on the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women should be submitted to formal procedure for adoption during the last quarter of this year, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in a letter to Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks, reports Jutarnji List on April 19, 2017.
Commissioner Muiznieks sent a letter to Prime Minister Plenković on 24 March in which he called on Croatia to quickly ratify the convention. Muiznieks also noted that it was important to clear up misconceptions about the convention in Croatia, especially regarding the use of the term “gender”.
“Some critics may recognize that violence against women is a problem, but they want to prevent governments to question traditional gender roles and stereotypes, due to cultural beliefs that men and women should have completely different roles in public life and family. This approach limits women to stereotypical roles as mothers. The critics go so far as to claim that the Istanbul Convention should not be ratified because it would endanger societies based on traditional families. This is a lie: all measures foreseen in the Istanbul Convention strengthen family foundations and connections by preventing and fighting against violence, which is one of the main reasons for the destruction of the family,” said Muiznieks in the letter.
In his written reply, Prime Minister Plenković stressed that the Croatian Constitution recognizes gender equality as one of the most important values and added that the fight against domestic violence was a priority for his government. Plenković said that the draft law on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention should be sent to formal procedure for adoption by the end of this year.
“The central coordinating body for protection from domestic violence – Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy – has initiated the process of ratification of the Istanbul Convention. We have established a working group to prepare the draft law,” states Plenković’s letter dated 12 April.
Plenković also pointed out that the provisions of the Istanbul Convention had been taken into account when preparing the new national strategy for protection against domestic violence for the period from 2017 to 2022, which defines measures for prevention, legal framework and support for victims of violence.
Croatia signed the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence in 2013, and the Convention entered into force in 2014.
