In Croatia, the Mobilise Against Sexism project supported by the Council of Europe has been implemented by the Women’s Network Croatia, EWL’s national coordination in the country.
The project aimed to raise awareness of sexism and to advocate for the Croatian Parliament to adopt legislation and policies in line with the Council of Europe Recommendation on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexism.
The Women’s Network Croatia believes that sexism and gender stereotypes are a strong obstacle to achieving gender equality and women’s rights. Sexism suffocates and oppresses women and girls, who are already exposed to all forms of violence. Male violence against women is directly linked to the culture of sexism in our societies, along with indirect forms of violence such as female poverty, economic dependence, pay and pension gaps between women and men, unequal participation and representation of women in political life and unequal access to public services and common goods (including health, education, culture, transportation, housing, media, etc.), sexist stereotypes in the media, etc.
In Croatia, the project was implemented in twelve cities through various activities: from workshops and round tables to public actions in cooperation with local authorities, the police, the employment office and other stakeholders. Through the campaign, cyber-sexism and cyber-violence were also highlighted , another problem to which women are exposed, which especially affects young girls and politicians. To reach those who have the power to make real change in this area, in November our members in Croatia coorganised a session to discuss the prevention and suppression of sexism with the Committee for Gender Equality of the Croatian Parliament and the invited experts. They used the meeting to advocate for the adoption of the National Policy for Gender Equality, and this successful meeting was followed by discussions with the Vice President of the Government of Croatia and many members of the Croatian parliament.
The representatives from the Women’s Network Croatia presented the project and explained its aim – to implement the Recommendation of the Council of Europe on the prevention and suppression of sexism:
“The Council of Europe Recommendation contains a number of measures aimed at combating sexism in various areas of life. Sexism is any form of expression based on the idea that some people, most often women, are inferior because of their gender. Individual cases of sexism may seem harmless, but they create an atmosphere of intimidation, fear and insecurity.”
There is a strong connection between sexism and violence against women and strengthening the rule of law contributes to strengthening the whole society, which is why Croatia urgently needs to adopt a new National Policy for Gender Equality. The majority of participants in the discussion with the Parliament’s Committee for Gender Equality acknowledged the importance of adopting a strategic document as soon as possible in the form of a new National Policy for Gender Equality, which would include the fight against sexism among the priorities.
To learn more about Women’s Network Croatia initiatives against sexism, click here.
To learn more about EWL’s collaborative Mobilise against sexism project and its implementation in other European countries click here.
To learn more about the Council of Europe’s campaign See it. Name it. Stop it. click here.
