Slovenia – 2014 results

Chapter Nineteen of the Slovenian Penal Code (KZ-1) defines Criminal offences against sexual integrity and distinguishes between: rape (Article 170); sexual violence (Article 171); sexual abuse of defenceless Persons (Article 172); sexual assault on a person below fifteen years of age (Article 173); violation of sexual integrity by abuse of position (Article 174); exploitation through prostitution (Article 175); Presentation, manufacture, possession and distribution of pornographic Material (Article 176).^[11], ^[12]

Since 2008, domestic violence can be prosecuted under article 191 of the new Penal Code,^[16] entitled “family violence”.^[17] The article states that “whoever within a family treats badly another person, beats them, or in any other way treats them painfully or degradingly, threatens with direct attack on their life or limb to throw them out of the joint residence or in any other way limits their freedom of movement, stalks them, forces them to work or give up their work, or in any other way puts them into a subordinate position by aggressively limiting their equal rights shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years.”^[18]

In the first half of 2012, the police processed 1,278 criminal cases against a spouse or partner. The NGO SOS Help-Line estimated that 25 percent of women have been victims of domestic violence at some point during their lives, but spousal abuse is generally unreported. Support hotlines are provided by SOS Help-Line as well as Kljuc, another NGO. ^[25] Results from a recent survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights indicated that the prevalence of physical partner violence in Slovenia was of 13%.^[26]

Rape is punishable by law: article 170 of the Penal Code states that “whoever compels a person of the same or opposite sex to submit to sexual intercourse with him by force or threat of imminent attack on life or limb shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one and not more than ten years”^[31] In case of extreme cruelty in the act or if the act is committed by two perpetrators successively, the minimum sentence is three years. As for marital rape, the same article states that for such an offence, prosecution can be initiated upon a complaint._<0} This means that in reality, it is very difficult to prosecute marital rape if the victim does not cooperate. A report by the European Women’s Lobby states that many rape cases are qualified as sexual violence, because of the lower sentence. Also, victims often complain about the court proceedings as they are asked questions about their sexual history, possible abortions and other intimate questions.^[32]

Slovenian employment legislation prohibits sexual and other forms of harassment through its Employment Relationship Act 2013.^[35] Article 7 of the Employment Relationship Act defines sexual harassment as “any form of undesired verbal, non-verbal or physical action or behaviour of a sexual nature with the effect or intent of adversely affecting the dignity of a person, especially where this involves the creation of an intimidating, hateful, degrading, shaming or insulting environment. Harassment is any undesired behaviour associated with any personal circumstance with the effect or intent of adversely affecting the dignity of a person or of creating an intimidating, hateful, degrading, shaming or insulting environment”.^[36]

Under Criminal Law, articles 133-134 of the Penal Code could be applied to cases of female genital mutilation, which refer to the crimes of inflicting bodily harm to another person, including the “destruction or permanent serious impairment of an organ or part of the body”.^[42] In addition, the 2008 Family Violence Prevention Act can be applied to FGM since the definition of family violence includes “any physical, sexual and psychological violence of one family member against the other”.^[43]

Abortion is legal and available on request in Slovenia since 1977, until the tenth week of pregnancy. Exceptions can be made in the case that the fetus or the woman are exposed to psychological or physical harm.^[45] This right is regulated in a provision in the Slovenian Law of 20 April 1977 on medical measures to implement the right to a free decision regarding the birth of children. If the pregnant woman is a minor, parental authorization is required.^[46] After the first ten weeks, abortion is permitted “if the procedure entails a risk to the woman’s life, health or future motherhood that is less than the risk to the woman or the child associated with continuation of the pregnancy or childbirth” (Article 18)^[47]

Abortion is free under the country’s health care system. As of 2012, access to abortion has been limited by a cap in public insurance coverage at 80% of the costs of intervention.^[48]

In addition, article 175 of the Penal Code states that “whoever participates for exploitative purposes in the prostitution of another or instructs, obtains or encourages another to engage in prostitution with force, threats or deception shall be given a prison sentence of between three months and five years.” If such an offence is committed against a minor, more than one person or as part of a criminal association, the prison sentence is between one and ten years.^{[50], [51]} Finally, the dispute on pornography can be considered as a form of trafficking; it is prosecuted within Article 176 of the Slovenian Criminal Code entitled “Presentation, Manufacture, Possession and Distribution of Pornographic Material”,^[52],[53]  which is “similar to that on prostitution, as it considered violence against women and children by some and sex work by others”.^[54]