Neva Tölle

Neva Tölle at the City of Zagreb Awards, 31 May 2022.

Neva Tölle (born 1956 in Rijeka) is a Croatian feminist activist and volunteer.

She co-founded the first SOS hotline for women and children victims of violence in Zagreb in 1988, and the first shelter for women and children victims of violence in the former socialist countries of Europe in 1990. She co-founded the Autonomous Women's House Zagreb - Women against Violence against Women in 1990, and then served as its coordinator from 1992–2007. In 1995, she co-founded the Centre for Women's Studies in Zagreb. She lobbied for the adoption of laws and regulations concerning women's human rights, and monitored their implementation.

She was awarded the Zagreb Woman of the Year in 2026,[1][2] and received a Raoul Wallenberg Award in 2024.[3][4]

Life

Neva Tölle has a long history of working with women who have survived various forms of male violence.[5]

She joined the women's movement in the Republic of Croatia in the second half of the 1980s, and in 1988 she participated in the opening of the first SOS hotline for women and children in Eastern Europe. From 1989 to 1990, she was an activist for the Trešnjevka women's group.[6]

For many years, she volunteered at the SOS hotline, as well as at the shelter for women and children. On 14 December 1990, SOS hotline activists (including Neva Tölle) squatted a city-owned flat and opened the first Shelter for Abused Women in the former Southeastern Europe. It was opened at a time when violence against women and intimate partner violence were not recognized or regulated in Croatian legislation.

During the 1990s, she was a co-founder and activist of numerous women's NGOs and organizations including: Zagreb Autonomous Women’s House,[7] Zagreb Women's Lobby, Center for Women Victims of War, B.a.B.e., Women's Group Coordination Council SEKA, Centre for Women's Studies Zagreb, and the research project STOP violence against women (the first of its kind in the Republic of Croatia). At the same time, she worked as a lecturer and co-leader of projects at the Centre for Women's Studies in Zagreb and a coalition of women's organizations in the campaign for reproductive rights.

During the 2000s, she continued her feminist and volunteer activities. In 2001, she became a member of the Council at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare for monitoring and improving the work of non-governmental organizations.

Tölle led the first study on the prevalence of violence against women in Croatia in 2003 on a sample of over 1,000 women; the study showed that every third woman in the Republic of Croatia had survived physical violence by a former or current husband or partner. The data on psychological violence showed that over 50% of women in the Republic of Croatia had survived this form of violence. She began lobbying for legislation in the early 1990s and was influential in the adoption of the Act on Protection from Domestic Violence in 2003.

From 2005 to 2009, she was a member of the Working Group for Improving Protection from Domestic Violence at the Ministry of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity. She was co-founder and leader of the campaign Domestic Violence is Not a Sport – Next Time Kick the Ball in 2006.[8]

Since 2009, she has worked to help finance of five autonomous women's shelters and counselling centres in the Republic of Croatia, and is a member of the Commission for the Improvement of Protection from Domestic Violence.[9]

From 2010 to 2016, she was a member of the Working Group for the Development of the National Strategy for Combating Domestic Violence.[10] As a member of the group, she advocated for and introduced the Croatian social policy system and the protection of women's rights to numerous representatives in the EU and the world. In 2017, she participated in the work of the Working Group for the Ratification of the Istanbul Convention.[11][12]

In 2018, she was a member of the Working Group for the Development of the Protocol on Action in Cases of Domestic Violence, and participated in the World Bank's research on the issue of gender equality and gender-based violence in the Republic of Croatia. In 2019, Neva Tölle participated in working groups for the amendment of the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Protection from Domestic Violence Act and was appointed a member of the City of Zagreb Team for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

As part of her lifelong feminist and activist engagement, she has undergone numerous educations, trainings, and seminars, both in Croatia and abroad, related to the topics of gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, assistance to rape victims, self-help, assistance with sexual harassment, trafficking in women, therapeutic work, methods of financing women's shelters and other related topics. From 1988 to 2017, she was a lecturer and educator, trainer and consultant for non-governmental and professional civil society organizations and representatives of state institutions in Croatia and Europe (Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Austria). She participated in and was a speaker and lecturer at over 35 meetings and conferences in the former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, countries in the region, several European Union countries, and the USA. In retirement, she remains active in the field of protection against violence against women and continues her activist work.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Women's rights activist Neva Tölle honoured with "Zagreb Woman of the Year" award · HINA.hr". HINA (in Croatian). 2026-03-06. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  2. ↑ C., N. (2026-03-06). "Neva Tölle je Zagrepčanka godine: Priznanje pionirki borbe protiv nasilja nad ženama". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  3. ↑ AZKZ (2024-01-18). "ACTIVIST NEVA TÖLLE WINS RAOUL WALLENBERG AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO WOMEN'S PROTECTION FROM VIOLENCE AND ADVOCACY FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS". AŽKZ. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Neva Tölle, winner of the 2024 Raoul Wallenberg Prize". coe.int.
  5. ↑ "Insulting Accusation of Domestic Violence". Global Freedom of Expression. Retrieved 2026-07-03.
  6. ↑ "Ženska grupa Trešnjevka / Ozaljska 16". Muzej susjedstva Trešnjevka. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  7. ↑ "Tölle v. Croatia". Global Freedom of Expression. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  8. ↑ "siguran i tajan smještaj onima čiji su životi ugroženi". Libela. 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  9. ↑ "Odluka o osnivanju Povjerenstva za unaprjeđenje zaštite od nasilja u obitelji". narodne-novine.nn.hr. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  10. ↑ "Nacionalna strategija zaštite od nasilja u obitelji za razdoblje od 2011. do 2016. godine". narodne-novine.nn.hr. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  11. ↑ "Zakon o potvrđivanju Konvencije Vijeća Europe o sprečavanju i borbi protiv nasilja nad ženama i nasilja u obitelji". narodne-novine.nn.hr. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  12. ↑ "Neva Tölle osudila izjavu ministrice Murganić, ali nije za smjenu: "Ona je u jednom danu strašno puno naučila"". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  13. ↑ "Tolle: Kazne su skandalozne, nagrađujemo nasilnika za nasilje koje je počinio". N1 (in Croatian). 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
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