Associations B.a.B.e. and fAKTIV Clarified the Istanbul Convention

“Get informed, be emancipated: What is the Istanbul Convention really?” is the title of the panel organized by the women’s rights associations B.a.B.e. and fAKTIV, from which it was conveyed on Monday that conservative currents are manipulating the content of the Convention, while the public is deprived of its real purpose – preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

In anticipation of the Night March for International Women’s Day on March 8, the panel discussed the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which has been the subject of numerous social disputes over the past year, announced the feminist collective fAKTIV.

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– While conservative and clerical currents manipulate the content of the Convention, frightening citizens with the non-existent term ‘gender ideology’, the public is deprived of the real purpose and intent of this document, it was emphasized at the panel.

It was highlighted that the Istanbul Convention is a legally binding international instrument that criminalizes acts such as physical, psychological, and sexual violence, as well as sexual harassment, forced marriages, female genital mutilation, forced abortions, and that it should protect women from all forms of violence, prevent the persecution of women, and generally contribute to the elimination of violence against women and domestic violence.

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Too Low Penalties

At the panel, the ratification of the Istanbul Convention was marked as a necessity, given that today, it was said, due to misdemeanor penalties for domestic violence, both the victim and the perpetrator are often punished, the misdemeanor penalty is often monetary, and the prescribed penalties are too low – the minimum penalty for rape is one year, and for sexual intercourse without consent, six months.

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It was warned that Croatia does not have a national policy that addresses all forms of violence against women, but only for domestic violence. “Violence against women, or domestic violence, is a multi-layered problem. The European Convention on Human Rights is like a constitution, and the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is its elaboration. The Istanbul Convention raises societal awareness about violence against women,” emphasized lawyer Ines Bojić on behalf of the B.a.B.e. association.