The Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Thursday put forward amendments to the Criminal Code for fast-track adoption, under which crimes of sexual harassment would be prosecuted ex officio and not based on complaints by victims so that such cases would not fall under a statute of limitations.

The proposal came after the Zagreb Municipal Prosecutor’s Office last week threw out a case brought by 17 women working at the Croatian Employers Association (HUP) who accused the former director-general of HUP, Bernard Jakelic, of sexual harassment.

The case was dismissed because the deadline for submission of a complaint had run out, SDP MP Ivana Posavec Krivec told a press conference.

Under the existing law, a complaint of sexual harassment must be filed by a person who experienced it within three months of its happening. Posavec Krivec said that this is humiliating for a woman because such cases often happen in the workplace or in a setting where the victim depends on the offender.

“The amendments concern only one article in which we propose that all cases of sexual harassment should be prosecuted ex officio. That means that there would not be a deadline of three months within which the victim is required to file a complaint, but the case would be prosecuted by the State Attorney,” Posavec Krivec said.

Another parliamentarian of this Opposition party, Misel Jaksic ,said: “We want to raise gender equality to a higher level and protect anyone who becomes a target of sexual harassment so that they would know that there are institutions of the state that will protect them and they will not be put to public disgrace. Victims are always in fear, whether it is better to keep quiet and endure for as long as possible or to report the case.”

He expressed hope that the ruling majority would recognise this initiative as a good move and adopt it.