Older persons should be soon granted stronger protection against domestic violence. Namely, they will be explicitly recognized as in need of particular protection within the Act on Protection against Domestic Violence for the first time, and any negligence towards them, like leaving a hardly mobile persons all day long alone or irregular nutrition, should become punishable.

This is only a part of changes which were accepted in the Final proposal of the Act on Protection against Domestic Violence, according to the suggestions made by the Ombudswoman Lora Vidović.

However, as much as those changes will be important, elderly protection could be even more efficient. With that aim, last month the Ombudswoman reiterated the arguments she already sent in the earlier phase of drafting the law.

For example, it is necessary to introduce an obligation on behalf of social care institutions to provide older persons, victims of domestic violence, an urgent community support service so that they could remain in their homes. She also noted how it remains unclear why is the lower fines limit for not reporting a domestic violence (3 000 Kuna) higher than for the act of domestic violence itself (1 000 Kuna).

Since some victims may not be prone to the court procedure when turning to an institution or NGO for help, it is necessary to stipulate an obligation for obtaining their consent in case of reporting violence. That is, sometimes they might need only a psychological or other support at the first moment and it might be necessary to empower them for participation in a misdemeanour procedure. According to the current Act and the new draft though, qualified persons are due to report violence even without consent.