Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.54070/hljk.32.2.7
CRIMINAL LAW PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM GENDER-BASED ONLINE VIOLENCE: CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1385
Maja Munivrana
; Sveučilište u Zagrebu Pravni fakultet
*
Tomislav Brđanović
orcid.org/0000-0001-7350-3408
; Županijski sud u Varaždinu, Hrvatska
*
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
In mid-2021, a new criminal offence—abuse of recordings of sexually explicit content
(Article 144a)—was introduced into the Criminal Code. In doing so, the Croatian legislator
was among the first to recognise the importance of addressing the phenomenon of so-called
“revenge pornography”. The need for a criminal law response to various forms of gender-based
online violence, including the non-consensual sharing of intimate or manipulated material, has
also recently been acknowledged at the level of the European Union with the adoption of the
Directive of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The
first part of this paper will provide a general analysis of the concept of gender-based online
violence against women and examine different legal approaches to criminalising and prosecuting
such forms of crime. The central part of the paper focuses on a typical manifestation
of online violence against women—the criminal offence of abuse of recordings of sexually
explicit content. Four years have passed since the introduction of the offence under Article
144a of the Criminal Code, during which 40 final judgments have been handed down. As a
thorough analysis of this offence and its application in practice has so far been lacking, the aim
of this paper is to use the available case law to present the phenomenological characteristics of
this offence, highlight certain interpretative uncertainties regarding its specific elements, and
propose normative amendments—particularly in light of the new Directive, which Member
States are required to transpose by 14 June 2027. In the final part of the paper, the authors will
reflect more broadly on the provisions of the aforementioned Directive relating to online violence
against women, in order to assess the extent to which Croatian substantive criminal law
is already aligned with it and whether there is a need for further legislative changes.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
342380
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2025.
Posjeta: 558 *