Bosnia and Herzegovina Needs Action Plan for Prevention of Violence against Women

A working meeting Violence Against Women in Post-Conflict Situations: Case Study Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on Tuesday, June 13, in Sarajevo, gathered representatives of Government ministries, Courts, Prosecution offices, women NGOs and international organizations, the Police and Gender Centres in B&H, with the goal to create reccommendations for B&H presentation in Brussels on the issue of violence against women. The working sessions were followed with presentations of the recommendations based on relevant B&H legislation, international conventions, national and international standards and field work experience. The working groups covered the institutional framework and national policies; prevention of gender based violence; and, assistance to survivors and victims of violence. According to Saliha Djuderija, a legal advisor with the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, and Hajrija Hadziomerovic-Muftic, Prosecutor with the B&H Office of Prosecutiona, the first step towards equal treatment for all victims of violence would consist of harmonization of legislation and adoption of unified and efficient sanctions for the perpetrators. Also, a more comprehensive prevention of violence against women would require the development of communication structure between all bodies and institutions of the state, as well as planned education and awareness raising methods which should be incorporated in B&H education system. The meeting discussed the challenges faced by the contemporary B&H society. One of the challenges, pointed out Nada Ler Sofronic, the Chairperson of the Working Group and Director of «Women and Society» Centre, is the underdevelopped culture of non-violence and non-violent communication. The meeting was initiated by the UN Population Fund B&H (UNFPA), in cooperation with CURE Foundation, as a part of the process started in March of this year, with the establishment of Working Groups of Experts on issues related to violence against women in conflict situations. The Working Group created a document that will be presented in Brussels, together with the reccomendations adopted at Tuesday's meeting. “The agreed recommendations will be used by UNFPA, within the boundaries of its mandate in B&H, as a basis for future work on lobbying for donor support and advocating inter-governmental and donor policies, processes and procedures for elimination of violence against women and gender-specific violence”, said Zeljka Mudrovcic, Assistant to the UNFPA Representative in B&H.