CEDAW AND WOMENS RIGHTS IN BOSNIA

The Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
reviewed during this session, among others, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the United
Kingdom (UK) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). WILPF was actively involved
in the review of DRC and also monitored the review of BiH and the UK. Heres an update about
what was said in the review of BiH.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) was discussed during all
three sessions. All three countries have a National Action Plan but many elements are still to be
improved. In the case of BiH, the inadequate definition of wartime sexual violence in BiH law,
the lack of implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the low participation of womens in the peace,
reconciliation and rehabilitation processes worried the Committee.

LACK OF TANGIBLE RESULTS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

In her introductory remarks, Samra Filipovi Hadiabdi, head of the Bosnian delegation, said
that implementation of the Conventions provisions is complicated because Bosnia and
Herzegovina is confronted to transition. She added that the decentralized character of the State
makes the implementation difficult and that cooperation is the key to implement good equality
laws. This was a recurrent argument during the discussions to justify lack of implementation of
UNSCR 1325.

She highlighted the adoption of a National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325
and the creation of a monitoring body for its implementation and the ratification of the Istanbul
Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

AN INADEQUATE DEFINITION OF WARTIME SEXUAL VIOLENCE

The head of delegation rapidly made reference to areas where Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to
improve. She specifically mentioned that wartime of sexual violence need to be adequately
defined in the law. She implicitly referred to an ongoing discussion launched by the United
Nations Committee on the Prevention of Torture in its 2011 report. The report places particular
emphasis on the disjunction between the definition contained in the Bosnian Criminal Code, in
particular in Article 172 and 173, and the definition set by international standards and
jurisprudence.
The Committee recommended the amendment of all relevant Criminal Codes to include a
definition of wartime sexual violence in line with international standards, including a specific
definition of rape as a war crime and as a crime against humanity, in order to adequately reflect
the gravity of the crimes committed. It also asked BiH to intensify its efforts to harmonize the
jurisprudence and sentencing practices of its courts [] by establishing effective cooperation
mechanisms between prosecutors and courts competent to deal with war crimes at all levels of
the State party.

UNSCR 1325 AND THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING

Committee members welcomed the adoption of the National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325.
However, they remain worried about the lack of womens participation in peace, reconciliation
and rehabilitation processes as mandated by the UNSCR 1325.

Committee members reflected it in their concluding observations. They recommended that

Bosnia and Herzegovina ensures the full implementation of UNSCR 1325 through the State
partys Action Plan and develops concrete measures to enhance the participation of women in
decision-making processes relating to post-conflict policies and strategies, taking into account
the needs of women and girls, in particular as concerns their social rehabilitation and
reintegration.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

WILPF and in particular our partners in Bosnia, will keep a very close eye now to monitor the
implementation of these and other CEDAW recommendations. The Concluding observations will
be an essential advocacy tool to defend and protect human rights in these countries and in
particular to implement UNSCR 1325. It will also be very important to refer to these
recommendations when BiH is reviewed by other human rights bodies.

As always, wed love to know our thoughts on these issues.

Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are European women who live in and are from Bosnia and
Herzegovina. According to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), women of
Bosnia and Herzegovina have been affected by three types of transition after the Bosnian
War (1992-1995), namely: the "transition from war to peace", economic transition, and political
transition.
Background

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared sovereignty in 1991 and independence from the former SFR
Yugoslavia in 1992. The Bosnian War (1992-1995) was responsible for extreme acts of violence
(ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War) and an economic collapse. Today Bosnia and Herzegovina
is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society - the population consists of: Bosniaks 48.4%, Serbs
32.7%, Croats 14.6%, and others 4.3%; while the religious makeup is: Muslim 40%, Orthodox
31%, Roman Catholic 15%, and other 14% (as of 2013). Most of the population is rural: only
39.8% of total population is urban. The literacy rate for age 15 and over is higher for males
(99.5%) than females (97.5%) - 2015 est.

Gender equality

Guided by the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's Gender Equality Law of
2003 was passed to promote and advance the equality between men and women. Laws related to
elections, as well as other laws, were amended to be in line with the constitution. As a result, the
law on election provides that "30% of all candidates must be women".

Gender roles

Bosnia has a cultural and religious patriarchal tradition according to which women are expected
to be submissive to men. Women are expected to perform most housework, including cooking,
cleaning, and child rearing. The economic devastation of the civil war has had a very negative
effect on women's participation in the economy; although women are better integrated in
agriculture work than in other fields.

In post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, women are a driving force for change. After the war,
the resulting effects included the lowering of their public and social standing; and some women
opted to travel outside the country to search for jobs. Women from rural areas are often more
marginalised, because of lower level of education and their inclination to tradition, which
dictates that they must be subservient to men.

According to an Ottoman Muslim account of the Austro-RussianTurkish War (1735

39) translated into English by C. Fraser, Bosnian Muslim women fought in battle since they
"acquired the courage of heroes" against the Austrian Germans at the siege of Osterwitch-atyk
(strovi-i tk) fortress. Bosnian Muslim women and men were among the casualties during the
Battle of Osterwitchatyk. Bosnian Muslim women fought in the defense of the fortress of Bzin
(Bzin). Women and men resisted the Austrians at the Chetin (etin) Fortress. The women of the
Bosnians were deemed to be militaristic according to non-Ottoman records of the war between
the Ottomans and Austrians and they played a role in the Bosnian success in battle against the
Austrian attackers. Yeni Pazar, Izvornik, strovi-i tk, etin, Bzin, Gradika, and Banaluka
were struck by the Austrians. A French account described the bravery in battle of Bosnian
Muslim women who fought in the war.

According to C. Fraser Polygamy, so peculiar to Mohammedan countries, does not prevail to any
great extent in Bosnia, and both sexes enjoy the privilege of choosing their companions for life.
An unmarried female appears in public without a veil, and respect is shown to the mother of a
family. In all these respects they differ widely from the inhabitants of eastern
countries According to A. J. Schem Polygamy has never gained prevalence among the begs. The
women go veiled in public, but enjoy at home a freedom and privilege greater than those of the
Turkish women. The young women are allowed to receive attentions from the young men, and
the young man who contemplates marriage is permitted to spend the evening with his betrothed,
while she sits concealed from his view by a wall or shutter. It is related of the Bosnian women by
a Turkish historian that when the first captives were taken to the Turkish court at Brussa, before
the capture of Constantinople, they appeared to the chiefs like living genii from Paradise.
According to Jnos Asbth Meanwhile, from the gardens on the hillsides a monotonous singing,
in sharp nasal and head notes, rings through the town. In spite of strict harems and veils, the girls
know how to attract the attntion of the youths. Those out for a walk never weary of lauding a
beautiful voice in proportion to the penetrating shrillness of its tones. The enchanted youth
follows the sounds, and creeps up to the garden fence, and thus do most of the Bosnian marriages
begin. The lad may perhaps have known the songstress from childhood up, when she as yet wore
no veil, but only a great cloth over her head. He may hap caught sight of a full-blown maiden
during the last days before she took the veil. If it is the right young man, the coy doe allows
herself, after a few such hedge visits, to be drawn into conversation; after a week, perhaps she
raises her veil. Should he be able once to grasp her hand through the fence or through a chink in
the gate, it is a sign of agreement; and then, provided that the youth meet with the approval of the
parents, nothing further stands in the way of their happiness. Besides, under the mother's
watchful eye, matters can hardly go so far, if the parents do not approve of the young man. There
are scamps who will thus play with several girls in succession; but they soon become motorious,
and the mothers warn their daughters against them. After Bosnian Muslim men went MIA during
wartime, in order to get a divorce, their wives became Hanbali or Shafi'i instead of Hanafi since
Hanafis had to delay a very long time before divorce could be allowed from an MIA husband.
Sexual violence during the Bosnian War

Women suffered mass sexual violence and sexual servitude during the Bosnian War, and
the Bosnian genocide, when violence assumed a gender-targeted form through the use
of rape. Estimates of the total number of women raped during the war range from 12,000 to
50,000.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) declared that "systematic
rape", and "sexual enslavement" in time of war was a crime against humanity, second only to
the war crime of genocide.

Reproductive rights

The maternal mortality rate is 11 deaths/100,000 live births (2015). The total fertility rate is 1.27
children born/woman (2015), which is below the replacement rate. The contraceptive prevalence
rate is 45.8% (2011/12).

Violence against women

In recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken steps to address the issue of violence against
women. This included enacting The Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in 2005, and
ratifying the Istanbul Convention.

Can you tell us about your human rights and womens rights activism? What sorts of
projects have you been involved with and what are you currently working on or
planning?

I became active in civil society sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina about 16 years ago,
through Helsinki Citizens Assembly (HCA) Banja Luka, a local NGO that is part of a broader
peace and human rights network at the international level. Together with HCA activists from
Tuzla, I worked on establishing HCA Youth Network of BiH, the initiative that strived to connect
young people throughout BiH to work together on promotion of peace, nonviolence and multi-
cultural values, as contra-balance to ethnic and nationalistic public discourse. This was a
challenging task, as communication and travel between the two BiH entities was almost non-
existent, and war rhetoric was dominant in the public. We offered something different for young
people that were tired of hate toward those different from us. The Youth Network gathered
more than 100 local youth groups, and facilitated many successful actions, such are youth
conferences, art workshops, pre-election youth voice campaigns, anti-corruption campaign,
cultural festivals, etc. Although mainstream media did not support these activities, Youth
Network became recognizable and accepted as alternative to nationalistic groupings of youth. It
fulfilled its mission, and exists today through capacity building and resource information center
for youth. Through my work with young people, I became interested to empowerment of women,
and work on gender violence prevention. Since early 2003, I became active in NGO United
Women Banja Luka. I am working with my colleagues on prevention and fighting gender based
violence against women, and empowering women in governance and decision-making. We
combine direct services for women in need (free legal assistance, SOS telephone, safe house,
psychosocial support), education, action oriented researches, and legal and public policy
advocacy in our work.

What is the status of womens rights in Bosnia-Herzegovina, today?

Formal legislative and public policy framework related to protection of womens rights in Bosnia
and Herzegovina significantly improved in the past ten years. We have Law on Gender Equality
and Gender Action Plan on the BiH level, gender quota in the Election Law, entity level
legislation and public policies aimed for prevention and fighting domestic violence. BiH signed
and ratified all major international documents in this area. However, real change in the practice is
very slow, and women remain deprived of possibility to enjoy human rights in both private and
public sphere. It is important to say that many categories of women are exposed to double
discrimination, namely because of disability and race, but also their social status, age, or fact that
they live in rural areas. For example, Roma women have limited access to adequate health care
during pregnancy due to lack of health insurance, but also prejudices of health workers. Many
young women in BiH are deprived job opportunities as employers fear they would become
pregnant this issue became widespread practice that remains unreported and unsanctioned.

Another example is continuous under-representation of women in political decision making at all

levels of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nowadays, women make up approximately 17% of
parliamentary representatives across the country, and there are governance institutions, such is
joint BiH Presidency and BiH Council of Ministers with no women members and ministers. BiH
laws in this regard lack harmonization, and provide space for discrimination, and there is
continuous lack of political will by key political leaders and parliamentary political parties to
provide equal chances for women to be elected and appointed at governmental posts. It is ironic
that BiH Parliamentary Assembly adopted the Gender Equality Law, while in the same time
continuously rejects proposals from the womens NGOs to increase gender quota in the Election
Law. These issues are pointing at lack of systemic efforts to change practices of discrimination
against women, and violation of womens rights. It is obvious that formal recognition of rights
did not bring positive change for women in BiH.

What is the status of womens access to reproductive health options (e.g. birth control &
abortion) in Bosnia-Herzegovina?
Birth control is formally accessible to all women, with no legislative restrictions. However,
limited researches in this area indicate that approximately 40% women use some methods of
contraception, but less of 10% of women use modern methods, and these data actually point at
strong influence of patriarchy. It is unknown how many women have the option to negotiate birth
control with their partners, and have access to reproductive health services and information,
regardless of their age. BiH policy makers in reproductive health policies, or rather to say, they
acknowledge it, but do little effort to improve the situation, often neglect these issues. Women in
rural areas and Romani women are recognized as especially vulnerable in terms of accessibility
of the birth control, and health services in general. They have limited access to health insurance
and information on health protection. I would say, for them, birth control is rather privilege than
accessible option, and this issue requires more efforts from public health programs and official
institutions at all levels in BiH. It might sound radical to say that health and social protection
services are expensive, and vulnerable categories of women are not top priority on political
agendas, but this is not far from truth.

Similarly, abortion is legal, and covered by health insurance funds. It is important to say that
women in all areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina have legally protected right to independently
decide on termination of pregnancy, which is in accordance with the international standards in
this area. Ive had the opportunity to monitor public discussion prior to adoption of the Law on
Conditions and Procedure for Termination of Pregnancy in Republika Srpska in 2008. There
were lobbying groups that advocated introducing consent of a male partner for termination of
pregnancy, and limiting conditions under which abortion can be allowed. This was disturbing to
me, but fortunately, this option didnt meet sufficient support among legislators. Such retrograde
tendencies can be very harmful to basic womens rights.

Are there significant differences, in this respect, between womens positions in the
Federation or the Republika Srpska or the District of Brcko?

No, I dont believe so. I would say, this issue is universal in the context of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, perhaps in the whole region as well.

How has the Bosnian state or its international partners dealt with the survivors of sexual
violence in Bosnia during the war?

This is very sensitive issue. I would also add it represents highly politicized issue, on the harm of
women survivors. It speaks for itself the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina still does not have
state level strategy for improving the position of women survivors, although this has been topic
of discussion for several years. Women survivors of sexual violence during the war in Federation
of BiH have limited benefits recognized by the law (e.g. priority in employment and state
financial support, according to the Law on Civil Victims of War of BiH). In Republika Srpska,
this category of women is invisible, as mainstream politics never encouraged discussions on this
issue. Due to that, after being ignored for such a long time, with little or no help, they choose to
remain silent. These are facts. This also indicates that status of women survivors of sexual
violence and all other issues related to womens human rights are not prioritized on agendas of
the official authorities.

As a woman and activist, I feel the discontent of the women survivors. I am too disappointed
with masculine politics of both BiH authorities at all levels of governance and the international
community. Persecution of perpetrators that is responsible for sexual violence against women
during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina is important part of justice for women survivors.
However, this is just one-step. Women survivors need sustainable, gender sensitive and
institutionalized services of support to recover and work through trauma, build their strength, and
empower their lives. Instead, they are stigmatized and pushed to the social margins.

What is the status of violence against women in Bosnia today?

Certainly, the most visible form of violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina is
domestic violence, although there are no reliable BiH level official statistics. One thing is certain
it is widely tolerated as socially acceptable behavior, judging by penalty policy and response
of the key official institutions that should provide efficient protection for women survivors of
violence. Another form of violence that is hidden and remains largely unreported is sexual abuse
of young girls if one closely analyzes news reports from the BiH and whole Western Balkan
region, you can identify many articles covering these issues. Womens NGOs in BiH are
struggling to raise public awareness on this issue, and influence media reporting that often
reveals identity of young survivors of violence, and exposes them to additional stigma, trauma,
and security risk. We often react through petitions to the Press Council of BiH (as self-regulatory
body for printed media), and Regulatory Agency for Communications of BiH, and we pressure
key media management structures to follow human rights responsive and responsible reporting.

Additional issues represent the fact that many women remain in abusive environments due to
lack of support from the official system. I heard many testimonies of women survivors of
domestic violence on lack of protection by police officers and social workers from expressing
doubts to survivors experiences of violence to suggestions to reconcile with abusers for the
sake of keeping family together, refusing to provide physical protection or inadequate collection
of testimonies and evidence related to events of violence. Once that victim reports violence, and
receives no adequate help and protection, she would most certainly hesitate to report it again. In
many cases, we witnessed severe violence to exposed women and child survivors of violence
immediately after police and social workers hit the doors. With such reactions from the official
institutions, it is difficult to convince women that they should report violence every time it
happens.

Many women survivors of violence are economically dependent on the abusers, unemployed,
with no income, no way out. The criminal laws of BiH entities incriminate domestic violence,
but Republika Srpska Domestic Violence Law also recognizes domestic violence as a minor
offence, and penalty policy indicate that vast majority of cases end with symbolic monetary
fines, or suspended sentences. Protection measures (e.g. restraining orders against abusers) are
not implemented in the practice, and many women chose to be silent on violence rather than
report it, as they are legitimately afraid of provoking another cycle of violence. Effects of public
policies in this field are hardly visible in the practice.

In the period immediately after the war in Bosnia, the country became a major center for
human trafficking, in particular of young womenhas this changed?

It did change in a way, in that it went underground. By coordinated police actions, bars and
places were young women from other countries of Eastern Europe were openly and brutally
sexually exploited and trafficked were shut down. Human traffickers focus more on young
women from Bosnia, so we have internal trafficking, or recruiting girls from Bosnia for sex
industries in Western Europe. It must be noted that BiH adopted all necessary laws, signed
international conventions in this area, adopted public policies, and established other institutional
mechanism to counter trafficking, such as the Office of the State Coordinator for Combating
Trafficking of People in BiH. I believe it is very important to have this issue integrated in regular
school curricula in final grades of elementary schools and all through high school education. This
would decrease the chances of vulnerable categories of children and young people of both sexes
being caught in the tempting traps of human traffickers on promises quick and easy money.
Additionally, it must remain the focus of teachers, social workers, pedagogues, and parents to
recognize early signs of the problem, and to react in order to save children and young people.

What is the status of feminists and feminism in Bosnia? What role do they play in society
and what has been the reception of feminism in the society as a whole?

Apart from the civil society in Bosnia, namely womens organizations with open feminist
orientation and actions, feminism remains largely invisible. Regardless to that, I would not agree
to say it is weak, as I witness many strong feminist ideas and actions, such as public advocacy
related to increased participation of women in politics and decision making, fighting violence
against women, increasing gender sensibility of media, etc. There are many events, such is Pitch
wise Festival of Womens Arts, coordinated by Foundation CURE Sarajevo, and Campaign 16
Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, coordinated by womens groups joined in the
Womens Network of BiH, where feminist ideas are promoted continuously.

In relation to reception of feminism in BiH society as a whole, I would say that feminism is
largely subjected to unjustified stereotyped perceptions on feminists as man haters or women
that rose against good old traditional values, and similar constructions. Such perceptions are
based on lack of knowledge on its values and ideas. Due to that, many progressive women and
men that advocate for womens rights in BiH would refuse to identify themselves as feminists, or
would deny it in a public arena. Likewise, if they do that in the public, they can face ignorance
and open verbal attacks. I believe it is ultimately wrong to keep feminism in a sort of restricted
ghetto, and would like to see feminism more open to grassroots work inBosnia and
Herzegovina. I consider this very important for enhancing support for feminist ideas and
concepts in a future common women and men citizens must have access to information on
what feminism stands for, and why it is important that they actively participate in actions aimed
for improving womens human rights in practice.

In the West, the past 20 years have been marked by increasing co-operation between
feminist and queer and LGBT activists. Have similar trends begun emerging in Bosnia?

I see this cooperation starting to develop in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although I cannot say it is
strong and satisfactory. The Sarajevo Queer Festival that was organized in September 2008 was
surrounded with violence, hatred, and open security threats against queer and LGBT activists,
and many women NGO activists and human rights workers publicly condemned this violence.
Womens NGOs joined in Womens Network of BiH are reacting frequently to calls for solidarity
and support by queer and LGBT organizations in concrete cases of discrimination; such was
recent homophobic attack on students of Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, or reactions on
discriminatory writings against LGBT population in some BiH daily magazines. However, I see
these positive steps still as isolated activities, and more should be done to strengthen impact of
these actions in the practice, namely in terms of joint work on raising public awareness and
diminishing stereotypes against the LGBT community in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also have
to work more on developing joint agendas, and clear objectives of how to work together, and for
now, this is missing.

Finally, are there any particular projects or organizations that people abroad can get
involved or support if they are interested in promoting the status of women in Bosnia?

This is very important, as many womens NGOs throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely in
smaller local communities lack support and capacities to work on improving womens human
rights at the local level. People with willingness to share their knowledge, skills, donate
equipment, or simply volunteer to support their work are always welcomed. There is an on line
data base of womens groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina administered by CURE Foundation,
where interested women and men individuals can search for contacts, and get in touch directly
with the women activists.

Additionally, there are safe houses for women and child victims of violence in Bosnia and
Herzegovina run by womens NGOs in Bihac by womens NGO Women from Una [BCS], in
Modrica by NGO Future Modrica [BCS], in Mostar by Woman BiH [English], in Banja
Luka by NGO United Women Banja Luka [English], in Zenica by NGO Medika
Zenica [English], in Sarajevo by NGO Foundation of Local Democracy [BCS]. Safe Houses
are in need for continuous financial support, but also contribution of through development and
implementation of various programs aimed at psychosocial rehabilitation and economic
empowerment of women and child survivors.