ISKUSTVA ZLOSTAVLJANIH ŽENA U PARTNERSKIM ZAJEDNICAMA
EXPERIENCES OF ABUSED WOMEN IN PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITIES

Summary/Abstract: In Croatia every 15 minutes a woman is physically abused, but violence besides physical can also be psychological, sexual and economic. Women often do not recognize some of the forms of violence, therefore, or out of fear, they do not report the violence. The problem lies in in unreported cases, so the real numbers are not available. The aim of this paper is to examine the experiences of abused women in partnership communities. The paper presents the results of the survey conducted by an in-depth interview on a sample of nine women, victims of partner violence aged 35 to 64. Participants were interviewed on secret locations of safe houses in Split and Osijek, where they stayed between 3 and 11 months. The results show that women rarely report violence and most commonly recognize only the physical nature of violence. They are afraid of the condemnation of their social environment that has no understanding, secondary victimization and a decline in quality of life. They are also afraid of loss of custody over their children, so they stay in violent relationships for years, withdraw their reports and return to their violent partners even after they have been in a safe house which they experience mostly as a comfortable and safe place with friendly and professional staff, but they are frustrated by a sluggish legal system. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the shortcomings in the legal and other systems that are forcing women to choose between years of struggling for their own peace and often the peace of the rest of the family, or obedience to the violent partner. Violence should not be passed over or tolerated and that can be achieved by raising women's awareness of their own rights.

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