Description
The Bias Cascade investigates systemic bias in how Czech criminal courts handle domestic violence cases. Analysing hundreds of anonymised rulings (2019–2024), the project maps patterns in sentencing, judicial reasoning, and protective measure implementation. By integrating quantitative analysis with qualitative legal examination and journalistic investigation, the research exposes how court decisions can perpetuate gender-based inequality and shape societal attitudes toward domestic violence and its victims. Beyond the courts, the project also explores how the system responds earlier — in misdemeanor proceedings, divorce cases, and social services — to identify where institutions fail to protect victims.
“Right now, we can’t answer basic questions: How many women die at the hands of their partners? How many reported violence before they were killed? This funding lets us gather that information from court records across the country and talk to survivors about how the system failed to protect them—so we can push for the changes that will actually keep women safe.“ – Klára Filipová, reporter and data journalist at Samizdat, the data journalism team of Czech Radio
Project Team
Media outlet
Samizdat, s.r.o. / The Czech Radio Data Team
Praha 2, Czech Republic
https://samizdat.cz/
Klára Filipová
Reporter
Czech Republic
Research organisation
Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Praha 1, Czech Republic
https://www.soc.cas.cz/en/
Blanka Nyklová
Research fellow
Czech Republic
