Members of the Women’s Network Croatia, an NGO fighting against gender discrimination, held a rally on Wednesday in front of the government building on St. Mark's Square dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale, demanding a fast and efficient implementation of the Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women.

After the Convention was ratified in the Parliament in April this year, three women were murdered in Croatia, they said.

“We are here to remind the government to implement the Convention, which was ratified on April 13. Three women have been murdered since then, the last death ocurring only last night. We come here dressed as handmaids to remind of the urgent need to implement the Convention, because, while we are standing here, women are dying. Just the other day we witnessed a case where a man murdered his wife, in spite of the restraining order she had against him,” activist Lana Bobic said.

The existing regulations are not enough to protect women from violence, she added.

The process of implementation should not be hindered by the ongoing collection of signatures calling for a referendum to revoke the Convention. The initiative opposing the convention reported today they have already collected 215,000 signatures, needing 160,000 more for the referendum to be called.

“This referendum question is unconstitutional considering that the equality of sexes is enshrined in the Constitution. This attempt to revoke an international document which represents great progress in protection of women against violence, while women are dying, is deeply concerning,” Bobic said.

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