What have been the approaches taken by civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina to deal with

conflict-related sexual violence? What initiatives and approaches have been taken since 1992 to
address the phenomenon, what are their differences and similarities?

List and explain past and current practices of both local, national and international civil society and
non-governmental organizations including (but not limited to) those working in the fields of human
rights, social work, law, peacebuilding, transitional justice, arts and multimedia, media, women’s
rights, and feminism, since 1992 to today.

Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has a deep history in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH); during the
1990s wars, wartime sexual violence was used as a tactic of war, affecting thousands of women and
men. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 people were sexually assaulted or raped during
the war in Bosnia.1 As a response to the violence, many organizations and NGOs have been
established, especially by women, to support survivors of wartime sexual violence, and continue to
provide support and services to the present day.

Since the beginning of the war, women’s organizations played a significant role in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The first women’s organizations attempted to respond to the crisis of the war and its outcomes and
consisted of volunteers who provided services in humanitarian assistance, in counselling and medical
care for war victims, especially for rape victims. Some of the organizations partnered with UNHCR,
which coordinated humanitarian relief during and after the war. For instance, Medica Zenica and Zene
Zenama Sarajevo [Women to Women Sarajevo] were among the first NGOs established in BiH with
the aim of supporting women who had experienced violence, offering medical, psychological and
social support and dealing with war trauma. Medica Zenica was indeed founded in 1993 as a therapy
centre to assist women victims of trauma and sexual violence; likewise, Zene Zenama brought
together women willing to support other women who had suffered violence, regardless of their ethnic
backgrounds.2

After signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, NGOs broadened their scope from humanitarian
assistance to capacity building in terms of education and training, playing a significant role in
peacebuilding, post-war trauma and the reintegration of the country. Furthermore, international
events propelled the expansion of wartime sexual violence initiatives, and NGOs in BiH started to be
directly involved in shaping a legal, economic and socio-political framework.3 As a matter of fact, in
1993, BiH ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), which obliged Bosnia-Herzegovina to eliminate women’s discrimination from legal, political,
economic and cultural aspects of life. In addition, the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action,
signed in 1995, called for the development of a Gender National Action Plan and for taking direct steps
towards the elimination of women’s discrimination. In 2000, the Security Council adopted UN
Resolution No. 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which made mandatory women’s participation
in all important matters of peace and security. Another international event that prompted the
momentum of initiatives related to wartime sexual violence was the Global Summit to End Sexual

1
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences, Addendum: Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 June 2013, A/HRC/23/49/Add.3, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/51b86ce44.html [Accessed 15 October 2019]
2
Simic, Olivera. “Activism for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Gender Perspective”. Global Media Journal 8,
no. 15 (2009): 1-19.
3
Mulalic, Muhidin. “Women’s NGOs and Civil Society Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina”. Epiphany: Journal of
Transdisciplinary Studies 4, no. 1 (2011): 40-55.
Violence in Conflict in 2014, which placed large international attention on ending sexual violence
during conflict.4

The NGO sector in BiH has been changing over time since the end of the war in 1996; organizations
that had been established during the war continued to provide services to women, often changing
focus depending on their needs. After the war, women did not require much support related to
personal physical healing, but they necessitated a greater assistance with regard to societal issues,
psychological support, and economic reparations. Nevertheless, since their establishment,
organizations have largely been providing the same services and programs for wartime sexual violence
survivors.5

Since 1992, several local, national and international civil society and non-governmental organizations
have been working to address the legacy of conflict-related sexual violence from the war in BiH on
different levels and with different approaches; among them, their initiatives were designed to
enhance the status of, and provide redress to, survivors of CRSV by advocating for equal access to
reparations, ensuring further development and expansion of services in the health and economic
sectors, improved access to justice, and combatting stigmatization towards survivors of CRSV.

Most of the organizations working with women survivors in the 1990s were providing supportive
services or legal services, and focused mainly on offering immediate solutions to women to deal with
and heal from their traumas. For instance, Bosfam, an NGO founded in 1993 in Tuzla, provided
‘occupational therapy’ to women, organising knitting corners in 57 collective centres in Tuzla. By 1994,
3500 women were involved in over 55 different centres, where they would come together around an
activity which was traditionally carried out in their homes; they would knit for their families, but they
would also generate an income.6 Such a project was important, as it helped “to generate a social
meaning for events, to recognise, contain, and manage grief and its social face, mourning; to stimulate
and organise active means of coping and problem-solving, individual and collective, in the face of
continuing adversity”7 (Summerfield 1995, 88).

Likewise, Medica Zenica offered craft classes since 1993, included four- to six-month job training
courses in sewing, hairstyling, furniture upholstery, knitting, weaving, and more recently, in
computing and languages. Upon finished training the trainees would take a final exam and they would
be awarded a certificate from the Employment office of Zenica Doboj, which would be validated and
recorded in the person's work card. Since 1993, Medica Zenica has enabled 777 women and girls to
receive a state accredited certificate on vocational education. Medica Zenica has also implemented a
number of educational, research, advocacy, and publishing projects focused on promotion and
protection of human rights, prevention and rehabilitation from war trauma, sexual and domestic
violence, and provision of legal aid through outreach programs.8

Other civil society organisations, such as Žena BiH [Women BiH] in Mostar and Udružene žene [United
Women] in Banja Luka provided similar services and trainings. Udružene žene, as well as Medica

4
Anderson, Mackenzie. “It [is] clear how many scars we have”: How Post-War Organizations that Address
Wartime Sexual Violence in Bosnia have Changed Over Time to Support Women Survivors. Paper, School for
International Training. 2015.
5
Ibid.
6
Pickup, Francine. Ending Violence Against Women: A Challenge for Development and Humanitarian Work.
Cowley: Oxfam GB, 2001.
7
Summerfield, Derek. “Assisting Survivors of war and atrocity: notes of psychosocial issues for NGO workers”,
Development in Practice 5 no. 4 (1995): 352-356.
8
Mulalic, Muhidin. “Women’s NGOs and Civil Society Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina”.
Zenica, also made a widespread use of media advocacy, in order to strengthen awareness of women
and men citizens about CRSV, through magazines, reports and publications. For example, in 2010
Medica Zenica “was present in 33 types of media and had 66 media appearances. Out of that number
61 appearance was in 28 media in BiH, i.e. 11 hours in electronic media (TV and radio) and 8.5 pages
of printed media and web sites, and 5 appearances in foreign media”.9

Civil society initiatives have also included human rights advocacy and monitoring of the
implementation of BiH international obligations towards CRSV victims. In 2012, TRIAL (Swiss
Association against Impunity), along with nine local associations – Association of Women-Victims of
War; Women’s Section of the Concentration Camp Torture Survivors Canton Sarajevo; Foundation of
Local Democracy; Association of Women from Prijedor-Izvor; Medica Zenica; Snaga Žene; Society for
Threatened Peoples; Sumejja Gerc; Vive Žene Tuzla – submitted a report to the CEDAW stressing the
importance of implementing the National Strategy for War Crimes aimed at the prosecution of
perpetrators; of protecting victims and witnesses; of assisting and compensating victims; and of
adopting and implementing the National Strategy for Transitional Justice.10

Since 2013, the Foundation of Local Democracy, together with partner organizations (Vive Žene in
Tuzla, Medica Zenica, Association of Women Victims of War in Sarajevo, the Croatian Association of
Detainees in Vareš, Sumejja Gerc in Mostar and the Section of Women Victims of War of Republika
Srpska) started the project "Improving the status of women victims of war in BiH". By establishing a
network of 19 NGOs from across BiH, the project aims to improve the status of CRSV victims, as well
as providing legal and psychological assistance to witnesses in war crimes cases before, during and
after the trial.11

As mentioned, most organisations have been providing the same services and programs since their
establishment, meaning that the social climate about CRSV has not changed much since the end of
the war. The work being carried out by the different civil society organisations is positively benefitting
women survivors and is essential in supporting a healthy and healed community. However, there is
still much to be done; CRSV victims are indeed still facing the same issues, such as stigmatisation and
the lack of benefits, support and rights they deserve. Additionally, there is still a gap where state
institutions need to step up. Without support from the government, survivors will continue to face
economic, political, and social problems that will prevent them from becoming a full, active participant
in their community.

9
Ibid. p. 53.
10
TRIAL International, “What is Bosnia and Herzegovina Doing for Women Victims of Sexual Violence During the
War?”. 2 November 2012. Available at: https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/what-is-bosnia-and-
herzegovina-doing-for-women-victims-of-sexual-violence-during-the-war/ [Accessed 15 October 2019]
11
TRIAL International, Follow-Up Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations Issued by the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences after her Mission to Bosnia and
Herzegovina, November 2014. Available at: https://www.fld.ba/upload/documents/Follow-
up%20BiH%20_%20Violence%20against%20Woman%20-%20copie%202%201.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2019]
Bibliography

Anderson, Mackenzie. “It [is] clear how many scars we have”: How Post-War Organizations that
Address Wartime Sexual Violence in Bosnia have Changed Over Time to Support Women Survivors.
Paper, School for International Training. 2015.

Fondacija Lokalne Demokratije Website, “Network for support to witnesses/women victims of war”,
http://www.fld.ba/novost/9693/network-for-support-to-witnesseswomen-victims-of-war [Accessed
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Medica Zenica Website, http://medicazenica.org/en/ [Accessed 16 October 2019]

Mulalic, Muhidin. “Women’s NGOs and Civil Society Building in Bosnia-Herzegovina”. Epiphany:
Journal of Transdisciplinary Studies 4, no. 1 (2011): 40-55.

Pickup, Francine. Ending Violence Against Women: A Challenge for Development and Humanitarian
Work. Cowley: Oxfam GB, 2001.

Simic, Olivera. “Activism for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Gender Perspective”. Global Media
Journal 8, no. 15 (2009): 1-19.

Summerfield, Derek. “Assisting Survivors of war and atrocity: notes of psychosocial issues for NGO
workers”, Development in Practice 5 no. 4 (1995): 352-356.

TRIAL International, “What is Bosnia and Herzegovina Doing for Women Victims of Sexual Violence
During the War?”. 2 November 2012. Available at: https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/what-is-
bosnia-and-herzegovina-doing-for-women-victims-of-sexual-violence-during-the-war/ [Accessed 15
October 2019].

TRIAL International, Follow-Up Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations Issued by the
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences after her Mission to
Bosnia and Herzegovina, November 2014.

UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes
and consequences, Addendum: Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 June 2013, A/HRC/23/49/Add.3,
available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51b86ce44.html [Accessed 15 October 2019].

Women for Women Website, https://www.womenforwomen.org/where-we-work/bosnia-and-