Members of the Women's Association of HDZ Katarina Zrinski Koprivnica organized a panel discussion in Koprivnica at the Gallery of Miro Kovačić, dedicated to violence against women. The organizers stated that they wanted to highlight the possibility of preventing violence, providing assistance to victims, and the importance of recognizing and reporting violence.
The conclusion of the panel was that judges impose penalties that are too light on perpetrators of domestic violence, who in most cases are men. Added to this is that due to this, trust in institutions is often lost. According to police statistics, there are 300 reports of violence annually in the Koprivnica region. It was stated that the majority of those reporting have a lower level of education and that they share the fact that they are trying to solve their various problems through violence.
It was highlighted that the number of cases of violence is not increasing, but rather the number of reports is increasing, which shows that victims are more aware of their rights and more willing to seek help. The director of Svitanje, Mladen Fajdžić, stated that we must not forget that alongside the victims of violence, there are also victims of trauma, and these are the most vulnerable, children. It was also mentioned that there is no special nursery for children who are moved with the victim, and that there is no possibility for the victim to take time off work, nor is there sufficient financial assistance.
Maja Gregurević from the Ministry of the Interior stated that the police are specially trained for domestic violence cases and that they do their best to correctly assess the level of danger posed by the aggressor to the woman. She added that sometimes they have to wait until the next day to speak with the woman, as she has to sober up. She also said that what worries women the most when they come to the police is 'what the neighbors will say' and the question of protection when the woman returns from the safe house.
Before the start of the panel, all were greeted by the president of the Women's Association of HDZ Koprivnica, Božica Trnski, and the president of the regional board, Mario Vrbanić. Trnski warned that we are prone to saying 'just let it be, it's a family matter and let's not interfere in someone else's family or why did she stay with him if he was like that' and that these are sentences that we should not use at all. Vrbanić added that violence against women is not just a problem for the individual, but for the whole community, and that we must build a society that has zero tolerance for any form of violence, especially against women and children.
The panel discussion included Danijel Ružak and Natalija Horvat from the Croatian Institute of Social Work, Marina Švagelj Jožić from the HERA Association, Maja Gregurević on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior, and Mladen Fajdžić, director of the Center for Community Services Svitanje. A new panel was announced.
