WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY:
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
UNIFEM
WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
"Women can and must do more to reintegrate Croats, Serbs,
and Muslims. Every day of peace means many less victims. I think
of how I used to be afraid of the dark. Now it's funny to even
mention fear. Until now, I didn't realize how much strength we
have in ourselves."
Vesna
Kondic, 1999
"Women in these war areas are now the
heads of families. They have to feed the children, find clothing
[…] People here know how to do many things. They just need
a little support. They don’t like standing in line for humanitarian
aid. I was seven months pregnant when I was arrested. We were
placed in one room -33 of us- with 10 to 15 children. For 20 days
they beat us with rifles. We never knew who would be next. There
was constant fear. (Now) we see ourselves as ready to help other
people who have suffered our experience. We want people to see
that what we need is to stand strong again."
Mensudia
Cupolo, Bosnian Muslim refugee, 1999
"There was such a silence in the town. I had a feeling something
very bad was going to happen, because the dogs were barking so
terribly. I touched my body and my hand was covered with blood.
I had a big hole in my chest. At first my mother said we would
surrender because I was so sick. I could hardly move for the first
200 meters, and then all of a sudden I had no pain. I think God
sent that to me. Many things are happening to us that we don’t
like, but we still have to endure. I hope one day I will be able
to earn my own living and support myself."
Razija
Vukas, textile engineer from Rogatica (Bosnia), 1999
"It began as soon as I arrived. During the day we stayed
in a big sports hall. The guards were always there. If they caught
us talking they would take a woman out, beat her and more than
the usual number of men would rape her. They liked to punish us.
They would ask women whether they had male relatives in the city.
I saw them ask this of one woman, and they brought her 14 year-old
son and forced him to rape her. Some of us were selected by name
and some were just chosen. If a man could not rape (i.e. he was
physically unable) he would use a bottle or a gun or he would
urinate on me. Some of the local Serbs wore stockings on their
heads to disguise their faces because they did not want to be
recognized. [Nevertheless] I recognized many of them. They were
colleagues - doctors with whom I worked. The first [man] who raped
me was a Serbian doctor named Jodic. I had known Jodic for ten
years."
Anonymous
PeaceWomen 