Croatia became the third country in the European Union to give femicide a separate legal status.

"With these amendments, we are protecting the rights, safety and dignity of women and sending the message that violence against women is unacceptable," Croatia's conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in late February when presenting the proposed law.

The text adopted by parliament stipulates that sentences could range from 10 to 40 years in prison, the maximum penalty under Croatian law.

The amendments to the penal code were adopted with 77 MPs voting in favor and 60 against, the official Hina news agency reported.

According to local NGOs, Croatia has the third highest per capita femicide rate in the EU.

According to EU data, 2,300 women were murdered by their husbands or family members in Europe in 2022.

In Croatia, with a population of 3.8 million, 13 women were murdered in 2022, 12 of them by a close relative, and 9 in 2023.

The government decided to propose this law after the murder of 20-year-old law student Mihaela Berak in September by a police officer with whom she had a brief affair.

Mihaela Berak's death sparked a heated debate about the failures of a system designed to protect victims and the law itself. Demonstrations were organized across the country to demand justice for Mihaela and to call for femicide to have a legal cover.

Prior to Croatia, Cyprus and Malta also gave femicide a separate legal status.