Most of the complaints received by the Gender Equality Ombudswoman in 2017 concerned issues of labour rights and social security, with most of the reports filed by women who complained about gender-based discrimination, the Office of Ombudswoman Višnja Ljubičić said.
Since the end of the recession in 2015, most complaints were related to labour rights and social security, accounting for 52 percent of all complaints, a 10 percent increase compared to 2016.
Women accounted for 57 percent of the unemployed, and were mostly represented in sectors with below-average salaries, while being under-represented in senior positions in the business sector, accounting for only 15 percent of management staff, and holding just 20 percent of seats on supervisory boards. According to Ljubičić, women do not have equal opportunities for promotion, and have lower salaries than men, with the average gap being around 11.3 percent.
Report showed that having children was increasingly becoming an obstacle to employment and promotion for women, and that Croatia remains the EU country with the lowest use of paternal leave.
Promoting gender equality in political representation remained a major challenge. In the 2017 local election, women were not significantly under-represented in terms of candidacies, as nearly 42 percent out of 47,600 candidates were women. However, they were mostly placed lower on party candidacy slates, and only 15 percent of them topped the slates.
In terms of domestic violence, women continued to be the most frequent victims in 2017. As for the gender structure of offenders, 77 percent were men and 23 percent women, unchanged from last year.
Analyses of domestic violence cases revealed a growing trend of incidents with fatalities, with 15 women killed by men close to them.
Ljubičić said there was a concerning trend that out of all the protective measures proposed by the police, the courts approved only 17 percent of them. Victims of domestic and partner violence still do not have adequate legal protection.
The increase in complaints indicates a growing awareness of discrimination, as well as the options available for combating it, said the Ombudswoman.
