International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in War Marked in Foča

(Patria) - Organized by the Association of War Victims "Foča 92 – 95", June 19 – the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in War – was marked in that city today.

Under the slogan "Foča does not forget – together against sexual violence in war", a gathering was held in front of the "Partizan" sports hall, which became a symbol of women's suffering during the war in the nineties.

Medina Mehmedović-Mulalić from the Directorate for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina reminds that between April and August, nearly 3,000 women passed through the Partizan hall.

- Rape in Bosnia and Herzegovina was not an accidental crime, nor a consequence of war; it was a systematic, planned, genocidal act. Every woman who fell into the hands of the aggressor was not spared. The goal was not to kill the body but to destroy the spirit of a nation. Today, we look at Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, we see the same images: women are once again the primary targets, their bodies are once again territories of war, and the world is silent – said Mehmedović-Mulalić.

The president of the Association "Foča – 92 – 95", Midheta Kaloper, reminded that the Hague Tribunal determined that there were at least 20 detention sites in the Foča area where women were sexually and physically abused.

- You who are here today are proof that there is hope for us and a better future for every woman who can no longer speak, for every girl who was not given the chance to grow up, for every survivor who is still seeking justice and recognition. Survivors are not just numbers; they are our mothers, sisters, friends. They are not broken; they endured what most people cannot even utter – said Kaloper, reminding that the gravity of the crimes in Foča is evidenced by the fact that girls as young as 12 and women as old as 77 were raped in that city.

- We seek and demand public acknowledgment of the truth about sexual violence in war, educational programs that will teach young people about rights, consent, and empathy, a judicial system that will protect us rather than traumatize us, monuments, museums, and memorials not as symbols of the past but as warnings – said Kaloper.

The Federal Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Adnan Delić, wept during his address in Foča, recalling that an 11-year-old girl was raped in the Partizan hall. He emphasized that Foča was not just a death camp but a camp where, as he said, they tried to kill the spirit, identity, strength, and dignity.

- Taking away dignity, especially from women in a society that holds honor as a personal and family sacredness, is a goal that transcends physical violence; it is an attack on an entire nation, on all generations that come after the crime. Thanks precisely to the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the international community has recognized that rape in war is not a side effect of hostilities but a conscious strategy, planned, systematic, and organized. It is not just bodies that are violated; the future is violated. Revisionism must not be an option we accept; we owe it to that 11-year-old girl when they raped her here and abused her body, we owe it to the women who say, 'I begged them to kill me' – said Delić.

He added that 30 years after the aggression, Bosnian society has not given women victims recognition, security, and space to share their truth.

- All estimates speak of 50,000 raped women, girls, and men, while the official register of civilian victims of war in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy has less than a thousand survivors of rape crimes. This figure does not indicate a counting error but a failure of this society; it is a mirror, a reflection of our society regarding how much fear, stigma, and silence still prevail over courage – said Delić.

Speaking about the courage of those who openly speak the truth today on behalf of those who cannot, he particularly highlighted Alen Muhić, whose voice, as he said, was crucial in the UN Security Council for the adoption of the historic resolution declaring rape in war a war strategy.

Delić announced that the federal ministry, in partnership with the Memorial Center Sarajevo, will build the first monument to victims of rape in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be located within the future museum of suffering in Vogošća.

A silent march to the main square and a moment of silence with banners paid tribute to all sexually abused women of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the region, and the world. The silent march continued towards the Ćehotinski bridge, from which roses were dropped into the river in memory of all the murdered and raped women.