New legal solution should encourage victims to report wartime rapes

According to the new Government's Proposal for amendments to the Law on the Basics of Social Protection, Protection of Civilian Victims of War, and Protection of Families with Children, the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, with the consent of the FBiH Government, should form a special five-member commission, an independent expert body, which will provide an opinion on whether the applicant is a victim of sexual abuse and rape.

The proposal for the new legal solution will be presented today before the representatives in the Parliament of FBiH, NAP reports. 

The President of the Association "Woman – Victim of War" Bakira Hasečić told the Patria news agency that the new legal solution should simplify the procedure for recognizing the status of a victim of sexual violence.

- The new legal solution refers to those who are only now daring to reveal that they were victims of sexual violence. We want to make it easier for them. We want to help both them and us to more easily reach the perpetrators, and to bring them before the face of justice – said Hasečić.

The number of people in BiH who were sexually abused during this period has not been determined to date. According to estimates by non-governmental organizations that dealt with this issue, the number ranges from 20,000 to as many as 50,000 raped persons.

A shocking fact is that among the raped persons there is also a large number of men, as well as underage girls. Many of the persons who were abused in this way were often killed afterwards.