Member of Parliament and chair of the parliamentary Gender Equality Committee Marija Selak-Raspudic (Most party) on Thursday warned that there was a dramatic increase in domestic violence crimes committed in 2020.

Presenting the latest data from the Interior Ministry Selak-Raspudic noted that there were 30.5 percent more domestic violence crimes committed in 2020.

“Now it is clear that the gravest forms of domestic violence, criminal acts during the COVID crisis, have increased because of the conditions families have found themselves in,” Selak-Raspudic told a press conference in Parliament House.

She in particular mentioned the Banovina area where entire families are living in small housing containers under the pressure of a double disaster, the coronavirus and the earthquake, in which circumstances, she claimed, domestic violence could escalate.

“On several occasions we warned that it was essential to act preventatively, to raise awareness and alarm the public and to strongly motivate institutional action. However, the dramatic increase in domestic violence crimes are treated by institutions as evidence of success in recognising cases of domestic violence, instead of taking concrete steps that will prevent it,” said Selak-Raspudic.

The number of misdemeanour acts with elements of violence against family members and close persons decreased by 11.3% compared to 2019, as did the number of victims of domestic violence (-7.4%). However the number of domestic violence crimes has increased, by 39.2%, which means that there were 5,524 crimes committed in 2020 compared to 4,233 committed in 2019.

There were more murders committed in 2020 and more bodily injuries, from 605 in 2019 to 1,055 in 2020, said Selak-Raspudic.