The state report of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented to the Committee on the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination of Women (CEDAW) at its 36th session, raises many issues concerning women, peace, and security, which are still serious problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This article will highlight the specific ways Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 can be used to support and reinforce Bosnia and Herzegovina’s commitment to respect the requirements of CEDAW. It will address three issues raised in the 2006 Country Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented to CEDAW, which are relevant to SCR 1325: Participation in Public Life, Female Refugees and Displaced Persons, and Violence Against Women. It will conclude with a section on how 1325 is currently being used as a tool to promote women’s equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Introduction
The post-war period is always plagued by financial and social debts which are difficult to overcome. However, without the state’s active commitment to ensure women’s full socio-economic and political rights and equal representation in decision-making positions, the process of reconstruction will inevitably perpetuate or exacerbate gender-based inequality and discrimination. Women and girls, both during and post-conflict, are faced by specific forms of violence and oppression and require special accommodations and protections. Both CEDAW and Security Council Resolution 1325 oblige state parties to develop mechanisms to ensure women’s equality and to reduce discrimination and violence against women. With respect to conflict resolution, reconstruction and reintegration, the guidelines of SCR 1325, further uphold the states obligation to address the specific needs of women in a post-conflict situation and to ensure their equal participation in decision-making.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina government has taken a number of steps to comply with CEDAW. It has created an Agency for Gender Equality, as well as regional and municipal commissions, a new requirement for gender disaggregated data, and has made attempts at gender mainstreaming. However, there is little evidence that such reforms have had an impact on the day to day reality of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, while there has been some progressive legislation, such as the 2003 Gender Equality Law, the government has failed to update laws at all levels to recognize reforms in national and international law.

Outlined below are three areas in which the provisions of SCR 1325 speak to the needs of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina as highlighted in the country’s 2006 CEDAW state party report.

Participation in Public Life

SCR 1325…
1. Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict;

8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (b) Measures that support local women's peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements

Women were largely excluded from the peace and reconstruction process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The General Framework Agreement for Peace, or the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, were created without the participation of any Bosnian women and make no specific mention of either gender issues or women. A UN common country study noted that this exclusion has continued throughout the process of rebuilding and “[m]ost policy and program activities have been implemented by and for men.” The study further notes that this lack of commitment to gender equity has resulted in a considerable deterioration in the status of women from the 1990s. The government’s failure to address the specific needs of women in the post-war period has resulted in new forms of discrimination, inequality, and violence.

While women have been active in participating in grassroots organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina their representation in formal political positions has not improved significantly. The Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina requires all Parties to nominate at least one-third minority gender candidates. However, according to the country report, this “‘forced’ the parties to include as many women as possible into their membership.” In 2002, however, women held only 16.7 percent of positions in the lower house of government and none in the upper house. This is a drastic reduction from 1986 levels.

In reviewing the Bosnian state party report, the CEDAW committee urged the state to “harmonize the election law with the Law on Gender Equality” so as to incorporate equal representation in decision-making processes. It was noted that Special measures are necessary to combat stereotypical attitudes toward women in the political sphere and mechanisms must be established to ensure women’s increased representation in decision-making positions at all levels.

The Bosnian government has established a Gender Equality Agency, which is responsible for coordinating efforts for gender mainstreaming, and promoting women’s equality in public and private spheres. However, the agency lacks the necessary authority and autonomy to effectively promote a feminist agenda within the government’s institutional framework. The Gender Equality Agency is also responsible for monitoring and assessing the gendered impact of laws. To this end, article 18 of the Gender Equality Law of 2003 demands that “[a]ll statistical data and records collected, recorded and processed in state bodies at all levels, public services and institutions, state and private corporations and other entities must be gender disaggregated.” This has not occurred and the penalties for non-compliance with this law have not been applied.

Further, in accordance with CEDAW, the government in 2000 established a group of Gender Centers, dedicated to organizing workshops and discussions, promoting gender mainstreaming and coordinating efforts of local and regional NGOs as well as the grassroots and government. While the Gender Centers may be useful spaces to organize and mobilize women at the grassroots level, and may prove to be valuable links to influence policymaking, their ability to force state action is limited as they are drastically under-funded and lack formal political power.

The CEDAW committee notes that “national machinery for the advancement of women, which is understaffed and under resourced, is unable to fully carry out its wide-ranging mandate as described in the Law on Gender Equality and further that its positioning within one State-level ministry may impede its effectiveness in working with other ministries.” In order to ensure the implementation and harmonization of laws protecting women at all levels and improve inter-ministerial coordination, the Gender Equality Agency must have increased authority, capacity, and resources. The Gender Center’s also require greater funding and increased political power in order to effectively support local women’s initiatives and promote women’s equal participation in political spheres and decision-making processes.

Female Refugees and Displaced Persons

SCR 1325 ..
8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;

13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants;

The Dayton Accords guarantee the return of pre-war homes to all persons displaced during the conflict. The UNHCR has primary responsibility for coordinating agencies and assisting in repatriation and return of refugees. While the UNHCR policy objectives on Refugee Women specifically cite the need for women’s equal representation and participation in all resettlement programs, there are no established mechanisms to ensure women equal assistance in the repossession of property and reintegration, or facilitating family reunification.

The Property Law Implementation Plan (PLIP) was created in 1999 to increase equality and reduce political manipulations of the process of repossession. However, the lack of gender-disaggregated data on refugees and displaced persons has been a serious obstacle to ensuring women’s equality in this process. A study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stated there were no national criteria to determine beneficiaries of reconstruction or repossession assistance. Local and national officials have used the return of pre-war homes as a political tool and women have been systematically discriminated against and marginalized.

There has been a marked rise in female-headed households in the post-conflict period. Currently women head 25 percent of homes; 78 percent of these women are widows. The mobility of war widows is greatly restrained due to fear and the stigmatization of remarriage. Many widows who have been abandoned or cannot prove their husband is deceased are further economically disadvantaged as current legislation makes it more difficult for them to prove ownership of property or receive compensatory pensions. Twenty two percent of female-headed households live in “'temporary', 'illegal' or 'emergency' accommodation.” The likelihood of female-headed households living in extremely poor conditions is twice as high in the Republika Srpska. However, in the Republika Srpska, of the 24,528 returned homes, only 4, 644 went to female-headed households.

The “funding follows return” principle, both removes the states burden of ensuring women are equally assisted in repossession and disadvantages single women, women with children, elderly women, and disabled women, who cannot relocate as easily without access to temporary housing. The likelihood that women will be able to return is also impacted by factors such as, “the prosecution of alleged war criminals, satisfactory gender and ethnic composition of local police forces, access and quality of health care, employment opportunities and access to education and vocational training.” Attention must be paid to the intersecting forms of oppression and inequity which perpetuate women’s discrimination and marginalization in the post-war period.

This is especially true for Roma women, who face both Gender and Ethnic discrimination. While prior to the war, many Bosnian Roma lived in what is now the Republika Srpska, the majority live in the part of Bosnia that is now called the Federation and many, especially women, have been unable to reclaim property or receive compensation. A lack of documentation further impedes their mobility and exacerbates their vulnerability as the largest minority group.

The vulnerability of female refugees and displaced persons is considerable and the likelihood that women will be offered special measures to facilitate their compensation for lost property or repossession is unlikely in the absence of gender disaggregated data. While efforts to improve gendered data collection have been undertaken they do not yet include displaced persons and refugees. Increased standardization and special mechanisms to monitor repossession and reconstruction efforts are crucial to ensure the equality of vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Violence Against Women

SCR 1325..
6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace-building measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training;

8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary;

10. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;

11. Emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes including those relating to sexual violence against women and girls, and in this regard, stresses the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible from amnesty provisions;

In the post-conflict reconstruction period, gender-based violence continues to be a pervasive problem. An important obstacle to women’s equality and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the state’s failure to establish a comprehensive and effective plan to combat violence against women, including domestic violence, trafficking of women and girls and prosecution of rape as a war crime.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there is a notable lack of data on domestic violence. Despite evidence that gender based violence has been staggering in the post war era, no standardized rehabilitation services for survivors exist. The state relies extensively on NGO action in social services. The country’s CEDAW report states that despite legislative reforms to the criminal code there are no “established institutions dealing with family violence and prepared to provide support to victims of such violence…the country has no elaborated action plan and strategy to combat violence. There are serious problems with underreporting, discriminatory attitudes and actions on the part of public officials, and a lack of programs designed to address the causes of increasing domestic violence, such as depression, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, high unemployment, alcoholism, and cultural attitudes.

In 2005, a law to protect victims of family violence was passed in both the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. However, it is limited in its scope and has yet to be effectively implemented. Necessary measures to improve the efficacy of the law include: improved inter-ministerial coordination; gender sensitizing for public officials; increased capacity of the criminal justice system; gender disaggregated data; mechanisms to increase reporting; and support and legal aid for survivors of abuse. Efforts must be made to change cultural attitudes concerning domestic violence. Furthermore, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska define the severity of the crime of domestic violence differently. These inconsistencies lead to varying application of penalties for perpetrators. Legislation must be harmonized, in order to ensure equal and standardized treatment under the law.

In addition to the provision of social assistance to women in post-conflict situations, 1325 also calls on states to prosecute rape as a war crime. According to the current legal definitions, rape survivors are not recognized as civilian victims of war and thus are denied support services and benefits. Rape survivors are not provided adequate health and psychological support. The Institute for Public Health has no data on female victims of war crimes or on pregnancies and abortions during the period of conflict. Only the Canton of Sarajevo has offered health insurance to women traumatized by war crimes.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina criminal code also limits the definition of rape to consider only actions that involve coercion by force or threat of immediate violence. While the International Tribunal has amended the definition of rape to account for situations in which women are in "circumstances that were so coercive as to negate any possibility of consent," this development has not yet been incorporated. Restrictive definitions of sexual assault must be rectified and survivors of sexual violence must be offered adequate justice, health services, social support, housing and financial assistance.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the most serious forms of violence facing women is the staggering rate of trafficking of women and girls. The prevalence of trafficking of women and girls for forced prostitution is clear evidence that violence against women in the post-war period has not ended but has merely taken on new forms. The high levels of discrimination against women, lack of employment opportunities and large numbers of displaced persons, are all factors which exacerbate this trend. To date, both state and UN action to combat trafficking has been inadequate and there have been allegations of public officials, NATO stabilization forces (SFOR) and International Police Task Force (IPTF) complicity in its perpetuation.

In July, 2001, in response to the high levels of trafficking of women, the United Nations created a special police unit to identify, locate, and rescue women, many of whom are minors, who have been brought into Bosnia and Herzegovina and to help return them to their home countries. The state has offered their support to eight NGOs which function as safe houses for refugees and women victims of trafficking. They each have a capacity for only one hundred. The State Report to CEDAW cites lack of funding as the prime obstacle to pursuing other measures. In October 2001, an Action Plan for Preventing Human Trafficking was adopted. This plan included commitments to offer counseling to victims, full border control, and legal reform, with a specific emphasis on the protection of women’s human rights.

A number of reports have documented that legal reforms have not been enforced due to high levels of corruption and complicity in the trafficking of women. Recent investigations have documented police involvement in all levels of trafficking, from giving tip-offs on upcoming raids, being clients, forging documents to facilitate trafficking, operating and owning brothels, and accepting money or sexual services for protection. With few exceptions, these police officers are not prosecuted or punished for their involvement. Since 1996, and the arrival of foreign peacekeeping troops, numerous reports have estimated that the majority of clients to brothels are foreigners, largely SFOR soldiers. SFOR and IPTF forces have been implicated in involvement in trafficking at all levels. The situation is further complicated by the fact that SFOR and IPTF soldiers are immune from criminal prosecution while in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The prevalence of trafficking of women and girls and the complicity of national and international forces highlights the need for gender-sensitizing training for all peacekeeping troops and local officials. Considerably more oversight and regulation by national authorities and the international community is also necessary. Measures to reduce the vulnerability of women must address their economic inequality, raise awareness, and increase penalties for police and peacekeeping troops who facilitate the trafficking of women and girls. In efforts to hold perpetrators accountable, victims of trafficking must be ensured adequate protection before, during, and after providing testimony. Standardized and comprehensive systems to offer psychological and medical support and rehabilitation to victims of trafficking are also necessary.

Current Action

Currently, women’s NGOs working to enforce the implementation of CEDAW have been involved in the creation of shadow reports in 1999 and 2004, as well as in a number of workshops and conferences. Women’s NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina have also begun to use SCR1325 in their advocacy as a tool to help combat discrimination against women in public and private life and to address violence against women and girls during and post-conflict. In 2004, Zene Zenama started an initiative for implementing Resolution SCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was in cooperation with a network of women of Kosovo, and a regional group supported by UNIFEM. They shared information about standards, organized over 20 meeting with NGOs, governmental institutions, and organized a regional conference to discuss implementation of the resolution and to prepare a draft report, which will be published this year.

Most recently, women’s NGOs held a meeting with representatives of the Gender Center and UNDP. These initiatives helped them to begin formulating plans to raise awareness, fight for implementation, increase government accountability, and developing new ways of using SCR 1325 as a mechanism to reinforce the state commitment to women’s rights. The Gender Equality Agency has also organized trainings and roundtables to raise awareness on SCR 1325 and to improve women’s access to decision-making circles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic and consular missions.

The exclusion of women from the process of conflict resolution and reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina has exacerbated their vulnerability and marginalization. While the work of grassroots women’s NGOs has been commendable and extremely valuable, the state has, despite some reforms, failed to demonstrate a serious dedication to ensure women’s equality or address their specific needs in the post-conflict period. This paper has outlined the ways in which SCR 1325 can be used to support the efforts of women’s rights advocates. While not all post-conflict countries face the same challenges, this framework for linking SCR1325 to CEDAW may be useful in other contexts as well, as a tool to hold states accountable to ensuring women’s political, social, and economic equality and to end all forms of violence and discrimination against women.

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U.N. Office of the Resident Coordinator, Common Country Study, 10. Cited from
Jeanne Ward, “If not now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-Conflict Settings: A global overview,” p. 80
“Combined initial, second and third periodic reports of States parties Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 29
Ibid, p. 30
“Responses to the list of issues and questions for consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 4
Ibid p.14
“Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Bosnia and Herzegovina” p 3
By the The Office of the High Representative (OHR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) and Commission for Real Property Claims (CRPC)
“Combined initial, second and third periodic reports of States parties Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 76
Ibid, p. 76
“Responses to the list of issues and questions for consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report Bosnia and Herzegovina” p. 37
“Combined initial, second and third periodic reports of States parties Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 6-7
“Responses to the list of issues and questions for consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report Bosnia and Herzegovina” p. 38
Ibid, p. 39
“Daunting Prospects: Minority Women: Obstacles To Their Return And Integration,” p.2
“Committee on elimination of racial discrimination considers report of Bosnia and Herzegovina”
“Combined initial, second and third periodic reports of States parties Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 18-19
“Responses to the list of issues and questions for consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report Bosnia and Herzegovina” p. 35
“Stop violence against women: Justice shelved – impunity for rape in Bosnia Herzegovina”
“Combined initial, second and third periodic reports of States parties Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 15
Ibid, p.15
“Hopes Betrayed: trafficking of women and girls to post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for forced prostitution”
“Shadow report On the Implementation of CEDAW and Women’s Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” p. 37
“Responses to the list of issues and questions for consideration of the combined initial, second and third periodic report Bosnia and Herzegovina” p. 24