Representatives of associations of war victims and children born as a result of war, non-governmental and international organizations, the BiH authorities and activists discussed today in Sarajevo the importance of legal and social recognition of children born as a result of war.
As it was pointed out at today’s event, after many years of efforts of children born as a result of war rape for legal and social recognition, significant steps on that path have been made this year, and the participants considered the ways in which they can further act together.
The president of the “Forgotten Children of War” Association, Ajna Jusić, believes that if this category of people is institutionally visible, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the RS, they could count on help and a law that would ensure recognition of their pain, which is very important in the treatment of trauma.
“Of course, this should be accompanied by a certain monetary compensation that brings a certain satisfaction to the victims,” emphasized Jusić.
She says that in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is no register on the number of these persons. From the personal and perspective of the members of the Association, she says that ‘having a country that recognizes you as an equal citizen is crucial and important.’
“Recognition of status means giving the opportunity to feel equal and opens up space for additional social inclusion. It is important, through recognition of the status, to speak often and loudly about the gender and patriarchal discrimination that happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” she emphasized.
As she said, they respect the rights given to children whose fathers were killed or martyred during the war, but they also ask the question ‘what about our mothers, why we couldn’t be equal along those lines.’
As part of today’s event, ‘Legal recognition of children born due to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A loud affirmation in the context of global silence’, written by Ariq Hatibie, a student at Harvard Law School, in cooperation with TRIAL International, was presented.
That document analyzes the steps taken by Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to provide rights to children born as a result of war, comparing them with international standards and initiatives for legal solutions in other countries.
In addition, the analysis shows other initiatives for the recognition of children as well as the work of civil society, when it comes to that topic.
In the Brčko District, the Law on Civilian Victims of War was adopted earlier this year, which, as a novelty, legally recognized children born as a result of wartime sexual violence, they were defined as a separate category, although no additional financial benefits have been provided based on that status.
On the other hand, the FBiH Government passed a Draft Law which provides for the recognition of children born as a result of rape, giving them a special status of a civilian victim of war, Fena news agency reports.
