A video documentary by the NGO Infohouse and the Bureau of the Heinrich-Böll Foundation in Sarajevo.
Language: Bosnian, English subtitles
Duration: 11 Minutes 20 Seconds
Transcript
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- There are one million nine hundred fifty nine thousand seven hundred and nine (1,959,709) women living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Three hundred eleven thousand (311,000) women are employed.
- Five hundred eighty three thousand (583,000) women are unnot employed.
- There are 53% of all the women who have only elementary school finishededucation, or have even less of schoolelementary education.
- Only 7% of the women have doctoral or master’s degrees.
- Women make the majority of voters being 52% of the electoral body.
- The participation of women in authorities is only at amount of 12%.
- Only once a year, on International Day of Women -March 8th , women are given central place in the society;, are put on front pages of the news, and they get a half a day-off at work.
Where, in fact, areWhere are women in Bosnia and Herzegovina actually in society today?
Samra Filipović - Hadžiabdić (Agency for Gender Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The position of Bosnian and Herzegovinan womean is not quite a pink one, is it? We may say that, in general, the position of women throughout the world is not at apt level because women are discriminated against. Besides that, one must be aware that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that got out of the war, is at in a transition process, and struggles with severe economic crises.
It is important to mention that state of Bosnia and Herzegovina unquestionably has the legislation related to position of women regulated.
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Former Yugoslavia, embodying Bosnia and Herzegovina, gave suffrage to women only in 1945. Unfortunately, a high percentage of women still doesdo not use this right. Confined in traumas of the recent war they have forgotten their righteous activist legacy:
As early as in 1890 women have started the class struggle asking for the right to assemble, to have working hours shortened, and the wages increased.
Women of that time had strikes organisedorganized as an answer to an unjust treatments,; hence in the year of 1920 they hadve participated in total of fifty two strikes!
Fighting for the power of their voice was not scaled down even during the Second World War, but on the contrary. Although there were over hundred thousands of women who fought during NOB (People’s Liberation Combat), out of whom one quarter have died in battles, in December of 1942 women have found the time to organiseorganize State Conference of Antifascists Front of Women in Bosanski Petrovac. The Second World War was also marked by women who hadve fought in it.
Ten years after, Yugoslavia of that time acknowledgeds the suffrage to women, and women surely used it.
Adaleta Alatović (Secretary of “Žena Sarajevo/Sarajevo Women”):
Women’s movement Sarajevo grew out of Antifascist Front of Women of Former Yugoslavia that got established by women -soldiers in 1942 in Bosanski Petrovac and since the establishment it never stopped with its activities and the work. The Front fought and advocated for the rights of women, spread of literacy, the education, and for women to exercise their rights within families and in the society as whole. One of the greatest achievements of the Front was a cessation of Moslem Muslim women wearing “feredža”-a sort of an overcoat similar to burka, and “zar”-type of a hijab with a veil.
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In year of 1986, at the last elections in the single-party system, women claimed 24, 1% of seats at republic level and 17, 3% of seats at local level.
Naila Beba Mahić (President of “Žena Sarajevo/Sarajevo Women”):
Regardless to different opinions about the Communists system, I dare say it was rather a good one in regards to presence of women in public life. Women were present everywhere and there were many of them in the government and in the parliament. There were many state companies where women were the directors. It meant a lot.
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In 1990, at first multi-party system elections in BIH, women claimed only 2, 92% of seats in legislative authority . Only two years after these elections the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina started. In the next four years that followed there were over 5000 women fighting in the rows of BIH Army. Dozens of thousands of women have been raped, tortured, and traumatisedtraumatized.
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly estimates that over 20 000 women have been exposed to rape, and other types of sexual violence during the war in BIH. Numerous post-war studies show that, during war time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, women were completely traumatisedtraumatized due to continuous exposure to violence from 1992 to 1995. The rape became a tool for genocide, tool of gender and ethnic violence, and tool of crime against the humanity.
Unfortunately, nowadays, even 15 years after signing Dayton Peace Agreement, these women still lack full and unlimited access to health care. Most of these women are utterly dependant on support provided by nongovernmental organisationsorganizations.
Munria Subašić (Movement “Majke Enklave Srebrenica i Žepa/Mothers of Srebrenica and Žepa Enclaves“)
We, the Mothers, have organisedorganized ourselves. We created one movement and within its scope we took on different roles. We were the doctors and physiotherapists, acted as psychiatrist, had the role of mother, the role of housewife, the role of a neighbourneighbor, the role of a friend, and every other that was needed.
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Women and wide diapason of women issues, from trauma healing to economic empowerment, are left at attendance of non-governmental sector which performs that work in outstanding manner. Many civil society organisationsorganizations, being aware that achieving of that goal is of utmost importance, on a daily basies they organiseorganize activities which remind, both women and men, on fact that this society is founded on bases of equality.
There are around 30 women’s groups who have adopted BIH Women’s Network Platform. Every year the campaign named “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” has more and more BIH towns and organisationsorganizations participating. We believe that “state of being invisible”, and a marginal position of women's movement, both being factors that dilute women’s collective identity, can be conquered by deployment of knowledge and information.
Vedrana Frašto (Foundation Cure)
For this year and the next one we have anticipated having mobile feminist workshops organisedorganized, especially designed for young women, activists, women artists, and all other women willing to hear about equality and the women who have made the a difference and werein changing the world, women who succeeded, who were recognisedrecognized and famous all over the world, including BIH.
Stanojka Tešić (Forum Žena/Women's Forum Bratunac)
Bosnia and Herzegovina, therefore Bratunac too, is an environment where relations between men and women are is not equal. The priority of voices in decision making processes is commonly given to men, on one hand due to the fact that Bosn ia and Herzegovina is a traditional country, and on the other hand, due to the fact that such understanding of the state of affairs is rooted and is inherited from a communism period.
The continuous work on empowerment did give the a result. In year of 2000 there were four women in local parliament, after the elections in 2004 we had five women in local parliament, and nowadays Bratunac has eight women there in office. Having all this demonstrated we may say that it still is not the equality but the fact also is that the power is not in male hand exclusively but the power and the responsibilities are being shared.
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Both, in Europe and former Yugoslavia, March 8th, unofficially got on the list of undesired celebrations and is being celebrated to a lesser amount everyextent each year. After year of 1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina only rare appearing in public by feminists’ organisationsorganizations reminds that samethe public that this day is not merely “Mother’s Day”.
Branka Inić (Lawyer)
Maybe nowadays, given this whole situation of BIH society and the role of women within its scope, despites the fact it is the position of a neglect, March 8th might have much greater importance and the role than it was the case in previous years, or even in previous systems.
Samra Filipović - Hadžiabdić (Agency for Gender Equality in B&H)
To me, that March 8th has the meaning! Because it is something, actually it is the day, although I do what I do, when we women recapitulate what happened in the past and how did it happen. However, on that day we somehow have to remember that someone has fought in order so we could exercise those rights.
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But March 8th is not the onlyonly the ideal opportunity to remind ourselves to provisions of the Law on Gender Equality, but to all the conventions, and action plans that have been produced in response to relegation of women in the society.
Every of the future elections are is a the step towards the society where men and women share the same rights and not only the responsibilities. Both, the local elections in 2010 and the general ones in 2014 are opportunities for women to embrace their activists' legacy and make every day to be International Day of Women; a day in which the society respects women!
On March 8th of 2011, on its 100th anniversary, let us remember that the International Day of Women was born on breakage of centuries, in times of great industrial progress, the turbulences and the crises, but also the times of radical ideologies; carrying the seeds of protests, political activism, and fundamentals of combating against all types of oppression, discrimination, and segregation.
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