If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can report domestic violence to the police, the State Attorney's Office or the Social Welfare Center. All bodies that deal with domestic violence are obliged to act urgently.
It is also important to know if you are a victim of domestic violence that health workers, employees in social care institutions, persons employed in educational institutions, professionals employed in religious institutions, humanitarian organizations or civil society organizations and all other professionals, who in their work coming into contact with victims of domestic violence, are obliged to report the act of domestic violence that they found out about in the course of their work. Bodies acting on domestic violence are obliged to inform the competent Social Welfare Center without delay of the facts and circumstances that contributed to the act of domestic violence, in order to take measures within the competence of the Social Welfare Center.
According to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence (for which the Ministry of Justice and Administration is responsible), domestic violence is:
- physical violence
- corporal punishment or other forms of degrading treatment of children
- psychological violence that caused the victim a violation of dignity or anxiety
- sexual harassment
- economic violence such as the prohibition or disabling of the use of joint or personal property, the disposition of personal income or property acquired through personal work or inheritance, the disabling of employment, the denial of funds for the maintenance of a joint household and childcare
- neglecting the needs of a person with a disability or an elderly person which leads to his or her distress or insults his or her dignity and thereby inflicts physical or mental suffering on him or her.
Rights of victims of domestic violence in the social welfare system
If you are a victim of domestic violence, the experts of the Center for Social Welfare are obliged to do the following when dealing with suspected domestic violence:
- inform you, or your legal representative/ guardian, about your legal rights
- are obliged to acquaint you with the possibility of accommodation together with children in a shelter or home for victims of domestic violence in cooperation with relevant non-governmental organizations,
- together with you as a victim of violence, develop a plan for your security,
- mediate and assist you in exercising your right to free legal aid and representation with the Croatian Bar Association,
- assist and mediate in exercising the right to free health care,
- refer you to an appropriate counseling center.
In urgent cases, such as taking measures to eliminate the immediate danger to the life and health of a family member-victim of domestic violence, the Social Welfare Center will act ex officio and will immediately place you in a shelter or home for victims of domestic violence.
Support and accommodation
If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can also get advice, help, support and accommodation from a number of other institutions and non-governmental organizations. You can find their list by counties, addresses and telephone numbers in the Directory of Institutions.