The survey was commissioned by the government.
Even though the topic of the Istanbul Convention ratification has been in the media focus for days, only one-eighth of respondents in the latest phone survey conducted by the Ipsos agency for the government of the Republic of Croatia said they know very much about it. Almost half of the respondents, 48.6 percent, know the basic information and follow the topic through the media, while 35.8 percent of respondents have heard about the Convention but do not know the details, and only 3.3% have not heard about it at all and did not know what it is.
Interestingly, given the subject matter of the Convention, men are slightly better informed than women (14% to 11%), while young people under the age of 29 and those up to 44 years of age are not very well informed.
Asked “what is your general opinion of the Istanbul Convention? Do you support or not support the Istanbul Convention on the basis of what you know about it,” 31.9 percent of respondents said they supported the Convention fully, while 34.1 mostly support it. In total, the Convention is supported by 66 percent of respondents.
On the other hand, 12.4 percent of respondents said they did not support it, while 10.4 percent mostly do not support it – in total, 22.8 percent of respondents are against it. 11.1% of respondents did not have an opinion.
Looking at voters of individual parties, the Convention ratification is supported by 59% of HDZ voters, 70% of voters of MOST and Živi Zid, and 90% of SDP voters.
About 86% of respondents said they believe that violence against women is a significant problem in Croatia. 61% of respondents disagree with the statement that the Istanbul Convention would lead to the eradication of family values. 68% of respondents disagree with the stereotype that a woman traditionally has to be a mother and a housewife, while a man is the family’s breadwinner.
The Ipsos agency conducted the phone survey on a representative sample of 604 adult citizens of Croatia from 19 to 20 March, commissioned by the government of the Republic of Croatia.
