Several dozen women and activists gathered yesterday at the Spanish Square in Mostar and protested under the slogan “Not one more!” and expressed their concern about the increase in cases of femicide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and they also presented requests to the institutions for immediate action.
Protests were held across the country yesterday, and requests addressed to the institutions and the entire public were read out in city squares near Mostar, in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, Bijeljina, Gradacac, Zenica, Lukavac, Gračanica, Konjic…
“Victim protection, urgent action, disciplinary responsibility, improving the position of the injured, ensuring that criminal proceedings end within a reasonable deadline, stricter punishments for perpetrators, legally defining femicide, recognizing children as victims, responsibility for inaction, recognizing psychological violence, register of abusers and monitoring cases of violence, control of the issuance of weapons permits, support services, capacity building, regional cooperation,” are 15 requests that were read and elaborated to the public.
The organizers point out that the protests are being held with the aim of drawing attention to the problem for which the competent institutions urgently need to find a solution and implement the 15 demands. They point out that in BiH, 48 percent of women have suffered sexual and gender-based violence, and in 84 percent of cases, violence in the family and intimate relationships is never reported.
Furthermore, they pointed out that they are not to blame, and that the fault in the first place is a deeply rooted system of inequality in society and a widely nurtured patriarchal consciousness that considers women and all “others” as inferior human beings, objects to be owned, subjects who are oppressed and pushed to the lowest socio-economic scale – the first to be hit by excessive abuse of power and the use of force.
“The institutions and policies that allow this are to blame. The public is to blame for allowing this. Therefore, we are looking for an urgent and effective reaction of the responsible institutions at all levels in BiH, and a radical change in all social spheres where such beliefs, forms of consciousness, and practices are encouraged, covered up, or tacitly approved. Every subsequent case of femicide is the responsibility of the whole society,” said activists and citizens of Mostar.
Photo courtesy of Fena
E.Dz.
