On the occasion of the International Day Against Victim Blaming and the campaign "Denim Day - Wear jeans with a higher purpose!", Deputy Parliament Speaker Sabina Glasovac on Wednesday received for talks representatives of that national campaign, noting that violence cannot be justified.

“The campaign was organised because we want to show solidarity with all victims of sexual violence as well as raise awareness of the need to make it possible to prevent victim blaming. We must break taboos and myths regarding sexual violence, which additionally victimise and threaten victims,” Glasovac said at a news conference in the parliament.

She added that the campaign was aimed at making the public sensitive to the issue, helping adopt quality policies and improving laws to prevent rape.

Number of reported cases of rape up 39% from 2020

Glasovac warned that according to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the number of reported cases of rape in 2022 was up by 11% from the previous year and by as much as 39% higher than in 2020.

However, many women do not report rape because they do not trust state institutions and fear revenge, not being believed and not being given support by society and institutions that should protect them, she said.

Maja Mamula, coordinator of the Women’s Room NGO, said that sexual violence was one of the most serious types of crime that was reported very rarely.

“It is estimated that there are 15-20 unreported cases of rape per one reported case. One in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape during her life, and one in five children will experience some form of sexual violence by the age of 18,” she said.

She said that victim blaming was one of the main reasons why victims keep silent, noting that it was exceptionally important to understand that responsibility and guilt for rape rested solely with the perpetrator, not the victim.

Virtual violence on rise, still no social response

Considering the virtualisation of reality, Gender Equality Committee chair Marija Selak Raspudic warned that the number of cases of exploitation of children for pornography had been growing radically by the year, and that this year it was 80% up from last year.

“All forms of virtual violence and violence related to or reproduced in the new media have been on the rise and there is still no adequate social response,” she said.

The campaign against victim blaming and destructive myths about sexual violence in Croatia was organised by the Women’s Room and the Story magazine, which called on male and female MPs to support it by wearing jeans on 26 April.

The global campaign was launched as a response to a decision by the Italian Supreme Court quashing a guilty verdict in a case of rape with the explanation that the raped girl was to blame and that she had provoked the rape by wearing too tight jeans.