What is the position of women in Croatian society?

Approaching the beginning of the 21st century, women comprise the majority of population in Croatia, live in smaller families than their mothers and grandmothers, and often choose an independent life. If they get a divorce, they live alone with their children. They get higher education and subsequently there is an increase of women’s participation in the highest academic circles. They find a job and support their families financially like their partners. They mostly work in the so-called women’s occupations (education, commerce, tourism, industry, etc.) They become mothers later and have less children.

Women’s unemployment is more drastic than men’s. When they retire, after taking their sick leave less than men, they spend their retirement years with worse financial  resources. Women live longer than men, but in a much worse financial situation.

(Smiljana Leinert Novosel, Ph.D., Introduction/Croatian Women in Numbers, Governmental Office for Equality of Sexes, Zagreb, 2000)

Population according to the census from 1991

It is estimated that in 1999 the population in Croatia was 4,554.000 (Monthly Statistical Report, No. 2, year X, State Office for Statistics, 2001)

Marriage and Divorce

During the last period between the census the number of citizens over 15 years of age that had never married before increased by 11.5% (22.5% in 1981; 23.8% in 1991).

From 1990 to 1998, the number of marriages decreased. Twenty years ago, 7.8 couples out of 1,000 citizens married; ten years ago this number decreased to 6.6, and in 1998, only 5.4 couples out of 1,000 citizens married. The lowest marriage rate between 1966 and 1998 happened in 1991, during the war - 21,583; the highest marriage rate happened in 1972 - 37,779.

The average age of bride and groom increased. In 1987, the average age of the bride was 22.8, and in 1997, 25.1 years. (Diskriminacija žena u Hrvatskoj, ed. Jasna A. Petrović, Ženska sekcija SSSH, Zagreb, 2000)

Women and Health

According to data from the State Office for Statistics, the number of births in Croatia kept decreasing between the years 1991 and 1999. Thus, in 1999, the number of born children was 13% lower than in 1991.

For the period of 1995 until 1999, most women who gave birth were between 25 and 29 years old. 92% of children were born in marriage and the number of childbearing mothers over 40 increased from 1.4% in 1995 to 1.8 in 1999.

The overall fertility rate is in constant decrease.

Birth rate has been decreasing since 1950. Natural growth during the nineties remained below 0.

Women make up a larger part of the Croatian population.

For the year 1998, it has been recorded that only 4 women on 10 000 inhabitants passed away during childbirth, or pregnancy.Položaj žena u Republici Hrvatskoj, published by Državni zavod za zaštitu obitelji, materinstva i mladeži, Zagreb, 2000)

Suicides/Murders   

The most common cause of death of women in Croatia are illnesses linked with circulation (58%), tumors (18,5%), injuries, poisoning and others (4%).

Among suicides in 1995, 74% were men, while women made up 26% (for comparison, in 1999, women: 28%, men: 72%).

In the past decade, there were 150 murders in Croatia per year, where women made up one third of victims.  

Violence Against Women

In 1998: 29 persons were charged with rape, 36 were sued

In 1990: 114 persons were charged with rape

According to the official statistics collected by the State Office for Statistics, in 1997

11.644 women were victims of violence, and this figure makes uo 31,3% of the overall number of physically injured persons in that year (if compared to 1996, there is an increase of 2 %).

There is no official statistics on violence against women happening within their families. Nevertheless, there are numerous reports of women’s groups, SOS telephones and shelters (to locate their web-sites, please visit the Directory of Women’s Groups in Croatia that is included within the web-site of Ženska infoteka).

According to records of only 3 NGOs from Zagreb, 14.454 women reported physical assaults

within their families (from 1997 until May 2000).

Women’s Autonomous House, Zagreb and Center for Women War Victims, Zagreb conducted a very important research (S.Kovačević, S. Mežnarić, Nasilje nad ženama 2000.:Izvještaj istraživanja, Centar za žene žrtve rata, Zagreb, 2001) on violence of women – they conducted content analysis of a daily newspaper Večernji list (the section focusing on black chronics, violence, accidents, etc.) published in the period from 1992 until 1997.                                                                         

Here are only some of the results:

• Victim’s age: in Croatia, women of all ages are affected by violence (in the USA, the most common age of women victims of violence is 19 and younger).
• Perpetrator’s age: between 25 and 44
• Type of assault: in 37,5% of the cases women are victims of any type of violence that happens in the family circle
• Place: victim’s home (47,9%), open public space (21,7%), home/car of the perpetrator
• (12,3%)
• Geographical location: the city of Zagreb (35,9%), the county of Primorsko-Goranska (10,4%), Istrian county (8,4%), the county of Zagreb (5,2%)
• Incidents: murder (11,7%), weapon assault (10,1%), rape (6,8%)
• Rape and similar assaults usually (in more than one third of the cases) happen at home or in the perpetrator’s vehicle.

7. Perpetrators: in 40% of the cases, perpetrators are known persons (boyfriends, friends, etc.   of women victims)

Sexual Harassment at Work

Ženska sekcija SSSH (Women’s section of the Trade Unions Associaton) and Ženska grupa ToD (Women’s Group of ToD) carried out an experimental research focusing on sexual harassment in Croatia.

According to the research results published in the brochure “Kako šefu reći ne” (“How to Say No to Your Boss”), 16% of women in Croatia experience unwanted hugging and kissing at work,

while every 10^th woman had an offer to trade their bodies and sex for a better post. In the latter case, 6% of them were threatened with loss of employment in case of turning their bosses’ offers down. More than 70% of questioned women only recognize severe cases of sexual harassment, while touching, kissing and flirting is recognized as harassment by less than 50% of women.

Women and Employment  

Employment

In the past decade (1991-1999) Croatia has experienced oscillations from 43% of employed to 45% of employed women in 1999.

Nevertheless, in free professions and manual trade, there has been a continuous increase of percentage of employed women with 36% in 1991 to 44% in 1999.

Most common women’s employment in Croatia:

Manufacturing industry (25%), trade (16%), education (13%), health and social welfare (13%)

Men are usually employed in manufacturing industry (30%), trade and commerce (13%), transportation (12%) and construction industry and building (11%).

Among full-time employed inhabitants of Croatia, there are 47% of women and 53% men). When it comes to part-time employment, women are dominating with 68% compared to 32% of men.

Analysis regarding permanent and temporary employment shows that women are somewhat less frequently in permanent employment, e.g. (47% women in permanent employment vs.53% men, statistics for March 31, 1999) In the latter case of employment for a limited period of time, women are once again a minority (49% women in comparison to 51% men occupying temporary positions). However, in case of apprentices, women are ahead of men with 58% compared to 42%. Women apprentices are most commonly employed in health and social welfare (34%), education (17%), public service, etc.(13%). Most of employed women have secondary education (42%), while 14% have a university degree. There are also 12% of employed unqualified women.

Age structure of employed women is as follows: 38% of them are between 35 and 44 years old, 15% are between 45 and 49 and 30 to 34.

Women between 35 and 49 mainly work in manufacturing industry (26%) followed by trade and commerce (15%). Older women (60 to 64) work in education, while young women mostly work in manufacturing industry as well. 

 When considering private business, 45% women found employment in private business in 1999. Nevertheless, only 28% of them owned it. For comparison, 55% of men were employed in private business, and 72% of them owned it as well.

Trade and commerce – women make up 56% of the employees in this type of private business, but only 42% of business holders.

Gastronomy and tourism – next most common employment source for women (20%), they make up 51% of employees, but only 31% of owners.

Manufacturing industry – 14% of women find a job in manufacturing industry and although, if compared to men, they make up 37% of employees, their ownership is indeed minimal with 2,3%.

An exception from the above highlighted trend is business in social and personal services. In this case, where women own this business in 80% of the cases.

Factors of discrimination

On the labor market, women are present in typically feminized branches – social welfare, education, culture, trade and commerce, gastronomy and tourism, etc.

However, these women-dominated branches often provide low earnings when compared to the state average, sometimes even up to 42,3% lower. A good example is textile and leather manufacturing industry where a women’s income is 47,4% less that the average state earning.

(Source: Diskriminacija žena u Hrvatskoj, M. Kokanović & J. Milidrag Šmid, Niže plaće i slabije šanse, Ženska sekcija SSSH, Zagreb, 2000)

Women and free professions

Women are engaged in free professions with 43 %, and they are most commonly working in health and social welfare (49%). Compared to men, they make up 61% of that branch.

In Croatia, organized child-care is a very important prerequisite for women’s inclusion of the working sphere.

It is this factor that often limits women in their ambitions and working possibilities, for lack of kindergartens is an acute problem in the Republic of Croatia.

For more information, please contact the coordinator of  Women’s Network  ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Unions of Central and Eastern Europe), Ms. Jasna Petrović at jasna.petrovic1@sssh.hr

Unemployment

Since the beginning of 80’s until today, the number of unemployed people in Croatia increased 3,2 times. Since 1994 until 1997, the percentage of unemployed women was decreasing (53% in 1994 to 49,8 in 1997). However, during 1999 and 2000, due to the process of privatization, women are more and more often fired from their jobs.

Here are some statistics of the Croatian Bureau for Employment:

Women of age between 20 and 50 are more often unemployed than men of the same age. In 1999, 51% of unemployed between 20 and 24 years old were women; 25-29: 57% of them were women; 30-34: 59% were women; 35-39: again, even 57% were women.

However, unemployed Croatians over 50 are mostly men (62% of men, 38% women).

Young people between 15 and 19 are acutely hit by unemployment – at this age group, women and men are equally unemployed.

For the years 1997, 1998 and 1999, statistics regarding unemployed women show certain trends:

• Highest percentage of unemployment hit women in manufacturing industry (19%, 19%, 19%),
• What followed was gastronomy and tourism (14%,14%, 14%),
• Trade and commerce with (13%, 15%, 16%).

Analyses point to the fact that women working illegally decide to involve in black market to support their families. According to the Bureau for Employment, gray economy provides employment with 15 to 17,9%.  

Women and education

It is exactly here that discrimination against women starts. In Croatia, percentage of illiteracy is continuously decreasing (5,6% in 1981 to 3,0% in 1999), but the share of illiterate women keeps growing (in 1981 78,7% were women, 21,3% were men, while in 1991 even 81,7% were women, while men made up 18,3%).

When analyzing women’s population and their level of education in the given period, 13,5% of women had no education whatsoever, 25% of them completed primary school, 11% completed secondary school, only 4% had a university degree.

Nevertheless, in 1981, 36% of women compared to 64% men got their university degree, while in 1991, 42% of women finished university.

Women and politics

Political transition from socialist systems to parliamentary democracies hit women of Eastern Europe with a backlash, in particular when it comes to political participation.

In Croatia, the number of women MPs decreased to less then 5% in 1990. In 1995, this percentage increased to 8%.

The last parliamentary elections in Croatia (January 2000) and the fall of the nationalistic regime opened the door for 21% of women MPs.

To locate more data on women MPs, their political parties, lists of candidates, etc. please see the web-site of Ženska infoteka, brochure Elections in Croatia 2000: 20% is(not) Enough, Ženska infoteka, Zagreb, 2000) and the web-site of B.a.B.e at www.babe.hr.