Launch of the project

BRAVE SISTERS

On the International Day of Safe Abortion, September 28, 2020, the Croatian humanist and feminist association Center for Civil Courage launched its newest feminist project, Brave Sisters. The project created a network of women across Croatia who support and accompany women who decide to have an abortion.

This form of activism complements the public political advocacy for the right to safe, free, and legal abortion, without mandatory counseling, which we pursue together with feminist organizations throughout Croatia. Our feminist struggle is multidimensional. Through Brave Sisters, we extend a hand of solidarity to women who directly ask us for support.

More than 250 women from Croatia and abroad applied to join the project. Their testimonies, concerns, and determination confirmed that launching Brave Sisters was the right step. Feminist and humanist activists from the United States, Canada, Ireland, England, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovenia, and Serbia have taken part in the project.

After the application period ended, our main focus was to educate participants in three key areas: basic medical knowledge about conception and abortion, basic principles of psychological support, and the feminist ethics of solidarity.

Today, we are proud to say that 40 Brave Sisters support and accompany women through abortion.

In 2021, we supported 28 women; in 2022, 215 women; in 2023, 400 women; and in 2024, 366 women. In the first four months of 2025, we had already supported more than 400 women.

By May 2026, Brave Sisters had supported 1,700 women in total.

Brave Sisters offer unconditional support and protection to women facing unwanted pregnancies, helping them understand and exercise their reproductive rights. They provide psychological and moral support to women who decide to have an abortion by offering essential information, creating space for open conversation, and accompanying them to the hospital during the procedure.

Our services include:

  • psychological and moral support for women who decide to have an abortion
  • medical, science-based, and procedural information
  • clarification and correction of false information spread by anti-abortion organizations
  • information about the most supportive nearby hospitals, as well as options abroad
  • accompaniment to the medical procedure itself

At a time when elected political representatives and, unfortunately, large parts of the gynecological profession are undermining women’s reproductive rights in Croatia, we believe it is our responsibility to create an atmosphere of safety, dignity, and respect for every woman who turns to us for support.

Brave Sisters help build welcoming and supportive environments for women and play an essential role in destigmatizing abortion.

We warmly invite doctors, medical professionals, feminists, humanists, and activists from Croatia and abroad to join our network. Contact us!

Photo: Nada Topić Peratović, founder of the Center for Civil Courage and initiator of the women’s abortion support network Brave Sisters.

ažurirano 05/2026.