The overall position of women in Croatian society, in spite of Government efforts and accepted international standards in domestic legislation, remains to be one of the greatest obstacles for combating discrimination in Croatia. Consequently, the media in particular show low level of gender sensitivity, often portraying women in a sexist manner and relying largely on soft pornography as an advertising strategy. (14-MAR-06)

This article is written by HRH / Goran Milakovic.

These are some of the conclusions drawn on today’s round table organised by B.a.B.e., Women’s Right’s Group in Zagreb. The round table served as an opportunity to present achievements on the regional project “Eqviwa – increasing the visibility of women in media” carried out in Bosnia and Hezegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Croatia.

Unequal treatment of women in media
Several documents and manuals presented on this occasion, including the analysis of the legislation regulating the participation of women in Croatia, are united in the opinion that women suffer unequal treatment in Croatian society, which is best reflected in the media and the way they appear there.

-Women represent 51 % of the whole population in Croatia, but they take only 18 % of all media content, said Sanja Sarnavka, B.a.B.e. coordinator.

Judicial practice unadjusted to human rights
The presented expert analysis of the Croatian legislation, made by attorney Lovorka Kusan, embraced wide range of laws that could have influence over the way women appear in the media. As one of the greatest problems, the analysis detected the lack of judicial practice adjusted to human rights, when dealing with cases of discrimination.

Legal remedies are ineffective
Moreover, the presentation of the analysis stressed out how legal remedies are often ineffective for women who are seeking protection from sexual discrimination. Best illustration of the problem is the case of ballet dancer Nikolina Katic, who was exposed to sexual harrasment by the head of the Croatian National Theatre Ballet, Dinko Bogdanic. Her allegations were later on confirmed by the Office of the Ombudsman for sex equality, an independent body overseeing the implementation of the Law on sex equality. Needles to say, her part time contract hasn’t been renewed after she started the proceedings, hence she raised charges at the Municipal Court in Zagreb on 30 June 2004 against Dinko Bogdanic and Croatian National Theatre for compensation. The first hearing has been scheduled for 14 June 2005 (one year after the charges had been raised!), in spite the fact that in this case the Law on work obliges the first instance court to conduct the whole proceedings in 6 months time upon receiving the charges.

round table1

“Women and the Media”
The project “Eqviwa” is the part of the program “Women and the Media”, designed by B.a.B.e. almost ten years ago. Within the program B.a.B.e. revealed tendencies in presenting women in the media and reacted on numerous occasions in cases of discrimination against women. Through public conferences and street actions, round tables and workshops they identified the prejudices that lead to unequal presentation of women and men in the media.