Security Council Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict, April 2018: Croatia

In my own country, Croatia, rape was used as a method of intimidation and terror during the aggression to which we were exposed. Some 2,500 people — mostly women but also men — are estimated to have suffered severe forms of sexual violence during the Homeland War. Most of these cases remain unprosecuted and perpetrators continue to go unpunished. As the punishment of perpetrators remains a priority for Croatia, the Law on the Rights of the Victims of Sexual Violence in the Homeland War, adopted in 2015, provides victims with support, recognition and compensation, even if the perpetrators are never found or brought to justice.

Croatia has taken steps to integrate the gender perspective into the national foreign and security policy through its national policy for the promotion of gender equality and its first national action plan for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), adopted in 2011. We are currently in the process of developing our second national action plan, which is expected to be adopted in the first half of this year and will cover both our domestic and international activities.

Croatia welcomes the emphasis on the urgency of ensuring that sexual violence considerations are explicitly and consistently reflected in prevention efforts and detecting early-warning signs, as well as in peace processes, ceasefires and peace agreements, all security sector reform and other processes in which the United Nations is involved, as well as in sanctions regimes.