Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5613/rzs.54.1.2
Contestation of Women’s Reproductive Rights by Anti-Gender Movement in Croatia
Antonija Petričušić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9826-1174
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Danica Delić
orcid.org/0009-0004-9373-1095
Abstract
Despite the political and activist achievements of the feminist movement, which led to the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights as human rights in the second half of the 20th century, a worldwide derogation of women’s acquired rights and the denial and erosion of (reproductive) self-determination for women and couples alike is occurring. This article examines how legal mobilisation and the use of intra-institutional means are deployed as tactics by the Croatian anti-gender movement. Scientific literature has established the transnational character of the anti-gender movement and identified similarities in their tactics across various countries, one of which is the legal mobilisation and strategic use of democratic tools to undermine women’s reproductive rights. By applying discourse analysis, we present how the Croatian anti-gender movement uses legal mobilisation through intra-institutional actions, such as initiating procedures to assess the compliance of regulations with the Constitution. At the same time, it undertakes a series of activities outside institutions, such as gatherings and protests, which seek to limit women’s sexual and reproductive rights. The results show that the Croatian anti-gender movement, within the analysed texts, operates within three fundamental discursive frameworks: protecting the majority’s worldview, achieved by creating a threat scenario; discrediting the right to abortion by portraying it as a legacy of the former socialist political system of Yugoslavia; and the threat of “gender ideology”.
Keywords
reproductive rights; anti-gender movement; legal mobilisation; contestation of women’s rights; compliance with the Constitution
Hrčak ID:
319119
URI
Publication date:
30.4.2024.
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