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Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament on Wednesday resumed its session with a debate on a bill on the rights of victims of sexual violence in the Homeland War, with Veterans' Minister Predrag Matić underscoring that the law is a clear condemnation of the culture of non-punishment of sexual crimes committed during the war and that victims would receive recognition and compensation as a response to omissions the state had committed over the past 20 years.
Matić underlined that this was the first law of this kind in the region and one of the few in the world, adding that he expected this legislation to advance the standards of protection of wartime sexual violence victims, classifying it as a war crime, not only in Croatia but in the region as well.
He said that the text of the final bill contained a changed definition of violence and that the legislation refers to sexual violence committed during the military aggression against Croatia. He also said that the law was based on the parliamentary Declaration on the Homeland Defence War.
Apart from monthly compensation, victims of sexual violence committed during the war will also receive a one-off compensation amounting to between HRK 100,000 and HRK 150,000. The victims will also receive full health insurance coverage, medical rehabilitation and psychiatric help, the minister said, adding that nongovernmental organisations dealing with the problem of victims of sexual violence committed during the war were satisfied with the text of the final bill.