The Advocates for Human Rights, together with Autonomous Women’s House Zagreb, submitted a stakeholder report on domestic violence in Croatia for the 36th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review.
Over 30% of women in Croatia are affected by domestic violence. 80% of female crime-related deaths were caused by intimate partners. However, administrative data within Croatia remains flawed and does not address all forms of domestic violence. As a result, domestic violence goes highly underreported. Victim services such as shelters that do exist are limited by a lack of funding and space. Many victims also lack recourse due to limited protection and difficult legal restrictions before, during, and after court proceedings.
Since the last UPR, Croatia took steps to ratify the Istanbul Convention and an amended version of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence. Croatia has also reformed its criminal codes and provided training to legal officials on gender-based violence. These changes have created political backlash that threatens to roll back these advancements and deters the state from further improvement.
Recommendations include: