Thousands flooded Zagreb’s streets on 12 May, brandishing banners that read “Ni jedna žrtva više, ni jedna žena manje!” and demanding an end to what they describe as the state’s indifference to femicide. The protest, which swelled to several thousand participants, turned the capital into a vivid tableau of grief and anger, forcing the government to confront a surge in gender‑based lethal violence that has, until now, been met with fragmented and lenient legal responses.
On the ground, the atmosphere was charged with personal testimony and collective resolve. Activists shouted that the current criminal code treats many forms of domestic abuse as mere misdemeanours, a loophole that allows perpetrators to slip through the net. The Attorney General, speaking at a press conference, called the pattern “a devastating fact” and warned that “femicide is a particularly odious crime” that must be met with swift, consistent punishment. The crowd responded with chants for mandatory prosecution and for a unified law that would treat all violence against women as a single, serious offence.
The numbers behind the anger are stark. Between 2020 and 2024 almost one hundred women were murdered in Croatia, with 43 of those killings occurring in the last three years alone. Twenty‑five victims were slain by intimate partners, fifteen by their own sons, and a chilling 81 % of the murders took place inside the victims’ homes. Yet since the April 2024 amendment that introduced a femicide provision, only eleven aggravated‑murder verdicts have been finalised, nine of which involved women – a figure that hardly reflects the scale of the problem.
Protesters laid out a clear legislative agenda. First, they demand a separate femicide offence that explicitly defines the crime as “the aggravated murder of a female person on the basis of gender”. Second, they call for domestic‑violence acts to be elevated from misdemeanours to criminal offences, providing law‑enforcement with the tools to intervene before lethal escalation. Third, they seek a single, comprehensive law that consolidates the disparate statutes on domestic violence, sexual assault and murder into a unified framework, ensuring consistent definitions, reporting mechanisms and protective measures nationwide. Finally, they insist on mandatory, swift prosecution and uniform sentencing, pointing to the notorious Josip Oršuš case – a suspect with 35 prior complaints who was repeatedly handed probation – as proof that the current system rewards leniency.
The protest’s demands are underscored by two recent judicial milestones. In March 2025 the Constitutional Court formally recognised femicide as a distinct crime within the constitutional order, lending legal weight to activists’ call for a dedicated offence and opening the door to harsher penalties. Yet the June 2025 Supreme Court decision that reduced Oršuš’s sentence exposed a stark gap between constitutional acknowledgement and practical enforcement, illustrating how discretionary sentencing can undermine the very protection the Court sought to guarantee. The juxtaposition of these rulings has sharpened the call for mandatory sentencing guidelines and procedural safeguards that prevent such inconsistencies.
Croatia’s struggle sits within a broader European context where several member states have already codified femicide as a separate crime and introduced mandatory minimum sentences. Nations such as Spain and Italy have moved to criminalise domestic‑violence acts outright, signalling a regional shift toward tougher, gender‑sensitive legislation. Compared with these examples, Croatia’s patchwork approach appears increasingly out of step with the EU’s gender‑equality agenda, prompting both domestic and international observers to press for rapid reform.
The convergence of street‑level outrage, damning statistics and decisive court rulings has created a policy window that the Croatian government can no longer afford to ignore. Transforming the symbolic inclusion of femicide in the criminal code into a robust, enforceable framework – with a distinct offence, criminalised domestic abuse, a unified legal structure and guaranteed swift prosecution – is now the litmus test of the state’s commitment to protecting women’s lives and upholding constitutional guarantees. The protest in Zagreb has made it clear: half‑measures are no longer acceptable; comprehensive reform is the only path forward.
Image Source: ar.inspiredpencil.com
