The Croatian anti-gender movement is part of a global conservative movement which, through the activism of civil society organisations and the work of conservative and right-wing political parties, seeks to restrict and abolish the sexual and reproductive rights of women and LGBT people, a scientific article says.

The article, entitled “Challenging the reproductive rights of women through the legal mobilisation of the anti-gender movement in Croatia”, was written by Antonija Petričušić and Danica Delić and published in the scientific journal “Revija za sociologiju” (Sociology Review).

American conservative movement as hotbed of anti-gender ideas

The hotbed of such ideas is the American conservative movement, which opposes termination of pregnancy, assisted euthanasia, and the introduction of the so-called gender ideology through sexuality education, the article says.

The anti-gender movement in Croatia uses three lines of argument. Firstly, it claims to be protecting the worldview of the majority. Secondly, it discredits the right to terminate a pregnancy by portraying that right as a legacy of the previous, socialist system of the former Yugoslavia, and thirdly, it emphasises the threat of “gender ideology”.

The first line of argument is used to justify collective non-institutional public gatherings such as the “Walk for Life”, public prayer vigils in front of public health institutions where abortions are performed or gatherings of men in squares across the country where they pray the rosary to end abortion.

The article recalls that anti-gender movement activists initiated a procedure before the Constitutional Court to assess the conformity of the law on health measures for the exercise of the right to free decision on childbirth with the Constitution and previously challenged the constitutionality of the introduction of health education.

Initiatives rejected by the Constitutional Court

In 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law was constitutional, noting that any restriction on a woman’s decision-making in autonomous self-realisation, including whether she wants to carry the pregnancy to term, represents an interference with her constitutional right to privacy, equality, dignity and freedom of self-determination.

However, since the law governing termination of pregnancy was not passed within the time limit indicated in the Constitutional Court ruling, polemics on the regulation of termination of pregnancy and conscientious objection continue not only to divide the political community, but also to deny and hinder the reproductive self-determination of women and couples, the article says.

The activity of the anti-gender movement in Croatia certainly contributed to the delay in the legislative regulation of termination of pregnancy, which would respect both the autonomy of the female body and the fact that reproductive health is an integral part of women’s human rights.

Finally, by scaring the public with the introduction of “gender ideology”, the anti-gender movement not only tries to restrict the rights of women and LGBT people, but it also thwarts the fight against gender-based violence.

In this fight, members of the anti-gender movement seek to discredit persons and civil society organisations that deal with gender issues. On a broad level, including legal one, they attack anyone who researches, proposes or enacts legal provisions and public policies in favour of women’s human rights, the article says.

Lacking a parliamentary majority, the anti-gender movement fails to legislate restrictions on women’s rights, but as a result of its actions, the number of public health institutions where abortions can be performed has been reduced, and the availability of reproductive rights and health in Croatia has also decreased.

European conservatives learn from their American counterparts

The anti-gender movement emerged in the United States, apparently because of the crisis of the traditional family, which it is trying to restore and preserve through its activities. It is based on religious and nationalist values.

Social conservatives in Europe “have become a force to be reckoned with in Brussels after learning from American conservatives how to organise online petitions and launch various initiatives.”

The authors cite research saying that between 2009 and 2018, the anti-gender movement received US$707.2 million from 54 organisations, primarily from non-governmental organisations, foundations, religious organisations and political parties from the US, the Russian Federation and Europe.

The largest and most influential organisation involved in anti-gender and anti-LGBT politics is the World Congress of Families, an international network of associations, scientists, politicians and “people of good will” from more than 80 countries, founded on the idea of American and Russian ideologues that feminism and homosexuality have led to a population decline and accelerated the crisis of the traditional family.

Apart from Croatia, anti-gender movements are active at national level in Italy, France, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, Poland, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

Croatian organisations as part of a transnational social movement

The most prominent organisation in Croatia, In the Name of the Family, has successfully positioned itself as a new political and social actor with a referendum campaign that will constitutionally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, the article says.

The campaign was also supported by the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, which mobilised citizens to vote in the referendum that successfully made the heteronormative definition of marriage part of the Constitution.

Other prominent conservative organisations in Croatia include Vigilare, Centre for Cultural Renewal, Voice of Parents for Children, Choose Life, Centre for Natural Family Planning, Prolife.hr and Croatia for Life.

The authors claim that their activities are not an autochthonous expression of Croatian civil society, but are part of a transnational social movement. For example, the Vigilare association is the Croatian branch of a transnational conservative Catholic lay organisation called Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and closely cooperates with TFP members from Poland, called Ordo Iuris.