No Shame: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Launched in Zagreb

26 November 2005

The �No Shame� action organized yesterday in Zagreb by the Autonomous Women�s House Zagreb, B.a.B.e. women human rights group, and the ROSA Centre for women victims of War>, and with participation by the Zenska Soba (Women Room) organization, marked the International Day of Fight against Violence against Women. The topic of the action was the violence against women and the legal and judicial treatment of the criminal offence of rape.

The official programme started with a street action on �Cvjetni Trg� (Square of Flowers), at 10:00 hours, that included performance by the �Zli Bubnjari� group and distribution of promotion materials on the issues of sexual violence against women. The programme then continued with a debate at the MAMA net.culture club, with guest lecture by Ksenija Turkovic, professor of Criminal Law at the University of Zagreb School of Law.

Turkovic emphasized two key areas of change in Croatian legislation regarding rape. The first area that needs to be changed is the Criminal Code. The Code defines the offence of rape traditionally � as a violent and forced act of sexual intercourse. The contemporary trends in criminal legislation change that definition to involuntary sexual intercourse. The rape cant be exclusively defined through the use of physical force, having in mind that the intention of the Criminal Code is not only to protect the physical integrity of the human being, but also the sexual freedom.

Turkovic said that the Croatian Criminal Code did accept some of the latest trends in treatment of sexual violence with the latest changes to the legislation. The changes define rape as gender neutral offence and not exclusively as an act of violence of a man over a woman. Also, rape in the marriage has been equalled to the marriage outside the marriage.

Another important area in need of change are the judicial procedures and the treatment of rape victims in particular. Turkovic mentioned only several of the most important changes, such as the free legal protection and psychiatric assistance for the victims; restriction in the numbers of allowed cross-examinations of the victims; education and specialization of investigators in charge of sexual violence offences; prohibition of the practice to ask humiliating questions during the investigation (such as questions regarding past sexual practices); etc.

According to Sanja Sarnavka from B.a.B.e., only one in twenty rapes is actually reported to the authorities in Croatia, the personal shame being the main cause of this statistic. Instead of a situation in which the women would report the assailants and rapists WITHOUT SHAME, it is the rapists (and institutions) that have no shame in smearing the reputation of the victims and question their veracity and morals.