16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (November 25 - December 10, 2001) CROATIA
23 November 2001 www.babe.hr/eng Dear Wonderful Women, Friends and Activists, I would like to provide a brief account of today's activity for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence in Croatia. Although the 16 Days has not yet begun, today we held a press conference to prepare journalists, activists, and those interested on the following activities to come. Sanja Sarnavka from B.a.B.e. and Neva Tole from Autonomous Women's House presented information on our groups, our activities and the cartoon which will be shown on Television. We presented the following: 1) A statement made by B.a.B.e. and sent to all catholic bishops and religious leaders in Croatia, calling on them to promote violence against women during the holy seasons. We asked Catholic bishops, to add domestic violence into their liturgy, when they speak of Peace during advent. 2) News brief asking for stronger laws in regard to domestic violence 3) Our radio "jingle" (which is the same as the cartoon made for TV). We sent letters to 30 radio stations across Croatia asking them to play our short "jingle." We got 26 out of 30 affirmative replies, with a promise that it will be played more then 20 times during the 16 Days. 4) Presented our TV cartoon and stickers. The TV cartoon received wonderful feedback. For the first time ever, Croatian National Television has agreed to air our cartoon. The TV show, "Good Morning Croatia," not only promised to show our cartoon, but will dedicate plenty of air time for a full report on the 16 days and violence against women. 5) We tried to show that the 16 Days is a strong INTERNATIONAL campaign, not just restricted to a few handful of women in Croatia. For this purpose, we distributed the Centre for Women's Global Leadership's 21 page calendar of events occurring all over the world for the 16 Days. 6) Autonomous Women's House presented vital points on what are the needs of the shelter. Tomorrow on Saturday 24, B.a.B.e. have also invited the media to witness the installation of our huge billboard poster in the city Centre, Zagreb. On Tuesday 27, B.a.B.e.'s radio show will be dedicated to the 16 Days and real life stories and interviews of women victims of domestic violence. On Monday we expect to be in full gear and ready for action. Good luck to everyone!!! BAKGROUND NOTE: Autonomous Women's House (Shelter) only have 10 beds for women and 19 beds for children. The population for where they are located, Zagreb, has a population of approximately 900 thousand people. Croatia has a population of around 4.5 million people. The Autonomous Women's House is the only shelter in Croatia! During 10 their years of existence they received over 10,000 women victims of domestic violence into the shelter. For every women they accept into the shelter they have to reject 4 other women victims who need shelter because of lack of space and resources. And what is the governments response? Women in Croatia are valued so much that the only women's shelter in Croatia, gets 30% of their budget covered by the government of Croatia. If you would like to make donation to the Autonomous Women's House (Shelter) please contact Neva Tole or Nella Pamukovic at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Warmest Regards, Kristina Mihalec B.a.B.e. - Be active, Be emancipated - Women's Human Rights Group Vlaska 79, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia tel/fax: +385 1 46 11 686 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CyberBaBe: www.babe.hr
