Femicide as a social and institutional failure: The urgent need for concrete measures

Recently, Croatia has been increasingly shaken by news of brutal murders of women, committed by their intimate partners. The latest such case, femicide in Tenja, has reopened the question of the (in)effectiveness of state institutions in protecting women from violence. Despite the existence of a legislative framework, it is clear that safeguard mechanisms do not work in practice. Each case of femicide must not be seen as an isolated crime, but as the end result of a systematic disregard for reports, warnings and the needs of victims. It is the most extreme form of violence against women —the one that ends in death, and which often could and should have been prevented.

 

With the introduction of the criminal offense of aggravated murder of a woman, a legal step forward has been made, but without a profound change in institutional culture, without education of officials and real cooperation between the competent authorities, femicide will continue to remain a dark everyday life. We are faced with the devastating fact that women in Croatia continue to die within four walls, most often in their own homes, killed by people they trusted. Too often, these lives are extinguished in silence, without an adequate response from institutions and the wider community. Every femicide must not be seen only as a personal tragedy, but as an indicator of deep social and political injustice.

 

Preventing violence against women requires a multidimensional approach. There is a need to change social attitudes that still tolerate violence, raise awareness of the consequences of gender-based violence, but also systematically promote gender equality through the education system and public policies. Also, it is crucial to empower local communities not to turn their heads away from violence in their environment, but to actively participate in its prevention. Without this, violence will remain normalized and women will remain unprotected.

 

The extent to which this topic has been neglected in our political space is clearly shown by the fact that Croatia has not had a valid strategic document that systematically deals with the prevention of violence against women for several years. It was not until the end of July that the draft of the National Plan and Action Plan for Protection against Violence against Women was published, through e-consultation. Unfortunately, the proposed documents are superficial, without concrete methods of implementation, without clear goals and control mechanisms. Instead of representing a decisive step forward, they give the impression of bureaucratic gratification of form.