Raped women must be helped to break their silence and testify against criminals

Today in Sarajevo, the two-day conference "Silence of survivors of sexual abuse - causes and consequences" began, which is being realized within the project "Women victims of war - breaking the silence", organized by the Association "Woman-victim of war", reports the Patria News Agency.

This project, funded by the Amica Association from Freiburg, Germany, aims to empower victims of sexual abuse during the war and potential witnesses in the process of testifying.

Experts and professionals from governmental, international, and non-governmental organizations are participating in the conference.

Through their presentations, discussions, and recommendations, they will present this major problem and potential solutions to break the silence of survivors of sexual abuse.

- The goal of the project is to raise public and victim awareness of wartime events with a witness support and protection program. People who have survived rape and sexual abuse in most cases feel shame, disgrace, fear, and misunderstanding from their families, loved ones, and the community in which they live.

The words of the war criminals still echo in the minds of the victims: "if you tell anyone, you and your family will be killed", and on the other hand, the criminal wants to avoid punishment. His close relatives cannot come to terms with or admit the fact that he killed or raped.

The problem of the current situation in BiH is the fear and reluctance of war victims to engage in the testimony process, as their basic rights to protection, psychological and health support are not regulated, and financial support is often needed for witnesses during the testimony process, said Bakira Hasečić, president of the Association, in her address.