RESULTS OF THE SAFETY SURVEY

Every fourth woman experienced some sort of violence during her lifetime committed by various types of perpetrators. Men are also subjected to violence to some extent.

Regarding violence experienced in the course of a person’s life by an intimate partner/s (current partner and/or former partner/s), psychological violence stands out as a type that is present in both sexes, while female respondents reported other forms of violence in the Safety Survey, which showed a significantly higher prevalence. Concerning age groups, a decreasing trend of reported violence was observed, ranging from the youngest to the oldest age group covered in the Survey. Along with potential other factors, this may indicate that different generational patterns exist in perceiving a particular situation or context as violence.

Ragarding violence experienced by non-partner/s since the age of 15, a sex-related difference is observed with regard to the predominant nature of a particular type of violence (physical violence prevailed among male respondents, whereas sexual violence prevailed among female respondents). Thus, one in ten women stated in the Safety Survey that she had experienced sexual violence, while rape was present in 1.3% of male and female respondents.

More than half of the surveyed women in the age group from 18 to 29 years of age who were working or had been working in the past experienced sexual harassment at work. Interestingly, the most sexual harassment episodes were reported by respondents in the 30 – 44 age group, although not to a statistically significant extent compared to the 18 – 29 age group.

Additional statistical data relating to the female part of the population by individual countries and for the EU-27 are available on the official Eurostat website.

 

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

The Safety Survey is a victimological survey conducted on a sample of persons residing in private households.

The survey covers issues of personal safety and experiences with unwanted behaviour at work, in society, in partnership, family and in childhood.

The survey is conducted in accordance with the methodological recommendations of Eurostat and its implementation is co-financed by the European Union.

Data collection

The Safety Survey was conducted in the period from 3 October 2022 to 15 February 2023 throughout the Republic of Croatia. It was conducted on a representative total sample of 23 000 respondents, women and men, aged 18 to 74, by using CAWI and CATI data collection methods. In the first phase of the Survey, from 3 October to 8 November 2022, the Safety Survey was conducted exclusively by using the CAWI method. Respondents who did not complete the web form during that period were contacted by an authorised interviewer and the Survey was conducted using the CATI method (during that period, respondents could opt to complete the survey using the CAWI method instead). It was not possible to utilise both data collection methods for the same respondent.

According to the Official Statistics Act (NN, Nos 25/20 and 155/23), the confidentiality of all personal data given by respondents is guaranteed. The collected data are used solely for statistical purposes and are published in aggregate form.

Basic definitions

The reference time of experienced violence refers to the period of the last 12 months, a period from 1 to 5 years ago or earlier than 5 years ago. Data covering experiences over the last 12 months and the last 5 years can give an indication of the extent and the nature of current levels of violence and an estimate of the share of people who may require help. Lifetime experiences, by contrast, provide an indication of the share of people affected by various forms of violence.

Violence experienced in adulthood covers violence experienced by a non-partner since the age of 15 and intimate partner violence during a person’s lifetime.

Violence experienced in childhood covers, in the first place, violence perpetrated by parents, such as belittling or humiliating a child verbally or serious physical violence (intentional hitting, kicking, beating with an object like a stick or a belt, burning or stabbing). It also covers sexual violence perpetrated against any person before they have reached the age of 15.

Gender-based violence against women is violence directed against a woman because she is a woman or violence that affects women disproportionately.

A perpetrator is a person who perpetrates violence.

Intimate partners are current or former spouses, civil union partners or cohabitants, people in an informal relationship or who are dating, people whose marriage has been dissolved or declared null, or people in engagement.

A current partner is an intimate partner who is the respondent’s spouse and with whom the respondent is currently in a partnership. Alternatively, someone who cohabits and lives together with the respondent, but who is neither in a marriage nor a civil partnership, or someone not cohabiting nor living together with the respondent but who is an intimate partner.

A former partner is any intimate partner with whom the respondent no longer has an intimate relationship. Alternatively, someone who cohabited with the respondent without being married or in a civil partnership. It can also refer to someone who did not live together with the respondent but was nonetheless an intimate partner.

Intimate partner violence is a type of domestic violence perpetrated by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. It occurs in intimate relationships, and it may occur in heterosexual or homosexual couples, with victims being of either sex, and does not require sexual intimacy between partners. This type of violence covers psychological, sexual and physical violence (including threatening) experienced in the course of a person’s life.

Non-partner violence is threatening, physical or sexual violence experienced since the age of 15 and perpetrated by someone who has never had an intimate relationship with the respondent, such as a stranger, an acquaintance, a friend, a colleague, a teacher, a neighbour, or a family member.

Physical violence means the intentional commission of acts of physical violence against another person, bodily harm suffered as a result of the application of immediate and unlawful physical force, violent behaviour resulting in harm and fear. It is important to note that physical violence sometimes includes threatening. It refers to a range of violent types of behaviour or acts involving harm and fear, such as threatening to harm the respondent; pushing or shoving the respondent, pulling their hair, slapping or throwing something at them; punching the respondent or beating them with an object; kicking; burning (with fire or acid or by some other means); trying to choke or strangle the respondent; threatening to use or actually using a knife, gun, acid or something similar; or using force against the respondent in some other way with the aim of hurting them.

Psychological violence is intentional behaviour that involves seriously impairing a person’s psychological integrity through coercion or threats. This type of violence includes a range of behaviours encompassing acts of emotional abuse and controlling behaviour. It has been expanded to include the notion of economic harm, which can be associated with psychological violence. This type of violence covers the following types of behaviour by an intimate partner towards the respondent: belittling and humiliating; forbidding the respondent to see friends or family, or to engage in hobbies or other activities; tracking the respondent via GPS, phone or social network; forbidding the respondent to leave the house without permission or locking the respondent up; constantly accusing the respondent of being unfaithful or getting angry if the respondent speaks to another person; forbidding the respondent to work; controlling the finances of the whole family and the respondent’s personal expenses; keeping or taking away the respondent’s ID card/passport to control the respondent; yelling and smashing things or behaving in a certain way with the aim of scaring or intimidating the respondent; threatening to hurt the respondent’s children or other people close to the respondent; threatening to take away the respondent’s children or to deny custody; and threatening to harm themself if the respondent leaves them.

Sexual violence includes unwanted sexual intercourse through force or physical violence or by exploiting a situation in which the respondent is not able to refuse sexual intercourse because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It also includes unwanted sexual intercourse which the respondent is too afraid to refuse and cases in which the respondent is forced into unwanted sexual intercourse with another person or persons as well as attempts to carry out any of the above acts or any other unwanted sexual behaviour that the respondent finds degrading or humiliating. Furthermore, this type of violence also covers unwanted sexual touching by non-partners.

Rape relates to a sexual intercourse without consent, which may include physical force, or by putting victims in a situation in which they cannot say no or comply out of fear.

Sexual harassment at work encompasses the following unwanted behaviour (with sexual connotation) that occurs in the working environment: inappropriate staring or leering, exposure to sexually explicit images or videos, indecent sexual jokes or offensive remarks about someone’s body or private life, inappropriate suggestions for any sexual activity, unsolicited physical contact, inappropriate advances on social networking websites, inappropriate sexually explicit emails or text messages, threats with unpleasant consequences if sexual proposals or advances are refused, other similar behaviour at work (with a sexual connotation) that takes place at work or working environment which makes a respondent feel offended, humiliated, or intimidated.

Domestic violence refers to all acts of sexual or physical violence (including threatening) that occur within the family or a household, including violence between intimate partners.

Repeated violence (series of episodes) refers to similar violent episodes repeated by the same person(s), during which similar thing(s) are done under the same circumstances more than once.

An incident (event or episode) is a single violent situation during which the respondent experienced one or more different violent acts.

The last incident is the most recent violent episode that has happened within the last five years.

Sex is the combination of biological and physiological characteristics that define a person as either male or female.

Violence (violent behaviour) is behaviour that can cause physical or emotional harm to others.

A victim is a person who has experienced violence.

Ever-working persons refers to a person’s own perception of their involvement in the labour market in the course of their life. It is a self-assessment and takes no account of any official criteria (such as those established by the ILO).

Sampling design and sample selection

The basic set for the Safety Survey was based on data from the Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021.

The target population in the survey were persons in private households and private dwellings who reached 18 years of age or older and were under 75 years of age on 31 August 2022.

The frame contained 2 826 052 persons, from whom a sample was selected and stratified into four statistical regions according to the HR_NUTS 2021 – HR NUTS 2  (Pannonian Croatia, Adriatic Croatia, the City of Zagreb and North Croatia) and according to an additional division into 'urban' and 'other'.

After the stratification was conducted, a total of eight strata were obtained.

The sample allocation was proportional to the number of persons in the stratum within the population, while the sample size of the stratum 'City of Zagreb – other' was extended.

A sample of 42 977 persons was selected using the systematic random sampling method, with implicit stratification carried out, meaning that persons within each stratum were classified by age groups and sex, so that the final sample would be representative for entire Croatia.

The response rate was 42.2%.

Weighting

The weighting procedure is used to calculate estimates for the entire population of persons in private households and private dwellings. This procedure compensates for the impact of sample design and size as well as the impact of non-response in the 2022 Safety Survey.

The weights for selecting units in the sample (persons) were calculated and then corrected to adjust for non-response of the sample units.

The final weights were calibrated to the estimates of the number of residents in private households in the Republic of Croatia as on 31 December 2021, published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics with respect to HR NUTS 2 region, sex and age groups.

Calibration is a technique by which the weights of the probability sample are adjusted in such a way that the estimates on the survey data correspond to the estimated number of population of the Republic of Croatia based on the 2021 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Croatia.

The survey whose data are published in this First Release has been conducted with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

 

Abbreviations
CAWI	computer-assisted web interviewing
CATI	computer-assisted telephone interview
Eurostat	Statistical Office of the European Union
EU-27	European Union (27 Member States)
GPS	global positioning system
HR_NUTS 2021 – HR NUTS 2	National Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics 2021 – 2nd level statistical regions
ID card	Identification card
ILO	International Labour Organization
NN	Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia

 

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