One in three women in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a victim of violence, and one in two over the age of 15 has experienced some form of psychological, economic, or physical abuse, according to the research. The ”Lara” Foundation in Bijeljina organized a round table on the topic “Protection and support for victims of domestic violence, legal innovations, and experiences in practice.”
Everything is better than staying in a bad marriage, is the message of Magdalena Tosic, a mother of four minor children, from Sokolac, after she decided to divorce. She spoke bravely about her fight: ”I tell all women not to suffer anything. But anything. Once the bully succeeds, it only deepens. So, report those cases to the centers for social work, the police…”
In BiH, domestic violence is regulated by entity and family criminal laws, as well as anti-discrimination laws. Entity laws on protection from domestic violence have been amended several times so far. Under these laws, after reporting violence, the police order protective measures within 24 hours.
“Two new protective measures have been introduced, more precisely emergency protection measures – removal from the house/apartment and a ban on harassing the victim. They can last up to 30 days,” explained Aid Hanusic, President of the Basic Court of Bijeljina.
The introduction of the “trusted person” category, which has no procedural role, has proven to be a good practice, as it provides support to a victim who is often insecure in court and finds it difficult to talk about surviving violence. Unfortunately, fear and economic dependence, as experts claim, is the main reason why every third case of violence remains “under the carpet”.
“Our mentality does not make us ready to face the fact that we are all fighting against this problem together because to some extent it is considered a private problem, which should staybehind the closed door,” told Natasa Kurtuma, a representative of the ”Lara” Foundation.
There are 8 safe houses in BiH. There are currently five victims of domestic violence in the Safe House in Bijeljina, and last year, during the coronavirus pandemic, 30 percent more cases of domestic violence were recorded, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
