Population of women: 2,071,000/4,186,000
Life expectancy of women (at birth): 76.7 yrs
School life expectancy for women:  N/A
 

Adult illiteracy for women: N/A
Unemployment of women: N/A
Adult economic activity rate: N/A
Source: U.N. Statistics Division, Social Indicators, updated 12 July 2004 (Some statistics provided may be from previous years and other sources as cited by the U.N. Statistics Division)

The Advocates for Human Rights is in the process of updating this page. Revisions and additions are forthcoming. Please check back frequently for updates.

Contributed by: Duska Andric-Ruzicic, Bosnia and Herzegovina National VAW Monitor

General Information on BH

Formerly a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence in March 1992. This initiated a war involving a conflict between the local military groups (BH Army, Army of Republic of Srpska and Croat's Defend Army - HVO, and some paramilitary groups) supported by JNA (Yugoslavian Army) and HV (Croatian Army) and paramilitary groups from bordering countries. There is still ongoing disagreement and polemic tension on the nature of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, internationally as well as nationally, and whether this was a civil war or act of aggression.

The war resulted in numerous atrocities in the forms of massive imprisonment and killing, rape and other forms of torture of civilians. According to some estimates, more then 200,000 people were killed and, at one point in time, almost 50% of population was displaced or were refugees. According to the State Agency BHMAC, 4.09% of BH territory is still covered by mines.

The armed conflict ended in November 1995, by the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commonly known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, which was initialed on 22 November 1995 in Dayton, Ohio (USA), and signed in Paris, on 14 December 1995. The text of the Constitution of BH is given in Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, transforming the country into a complex and decentralized State composed of two Entities, the Federation of BH and the Republic of Srpska and District Brcko.

The position of the High Representative (Office of High Representative - OHR) was created under the Dayton Peace Agreement. The mission of the High Representative (who is also the European Union’s Special Representative) is “to work with the people of BH and the International Community to ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a peaceful, viable state on course to European integration”. In past years, the OHR has the corrective role for decisions made by national politicians. Officially, the mandate of OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina ends in June 2007.

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a large Bosniak and Croat majority while the Republic of Srpska is composed mainly of Serb majority. The Brcko District is a self-governing administrative unit under the sovereignty of BH in the north-eastern part of the country. The BH Constitution established a central government with a bicameral legislature, a three-member Presidency (consisting of a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat), Council of Ministers, State Assembly, and Constitutional Court.

Gender Equality

The Gender equality law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BH, No.16/03) was adopted in 2003 after years of policy advocacy by women’s NGOs. The Law established the Agency for Gender Equality as the state gender equality mechanism. On the entity level, there are the Gender center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Gender Center of the Republic of Srpska Government. One of their main roles is implementation of the Gender Equality Law and tasks relating to state obligations under CEDAW.

Article 4 of the Gender Equality Law defines the legal meaning of terms: gender, gender-based violence, harassment and sexual harassment. In its article 17, the Law forbids “all forms of gender based violence in all its forms, in the private and public spheres.” In article 27, it is stated, “Who performs an act of gender-based violence, harassment and sexual harassment, as described in article 4 of this law, will be punished for a criminal act with imprisonment in duration 6 months to 5 years”

According to data of the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in rural areas of BH, almost 48% of women and 25% of men are illiterate and/or have not completed the primary education. In urban areas, this applies to 22.25% of women and 7.8% of men. According to data from the year 1991, the level of illiteracy was 9.9% in BH.

According to the U.S. Department of State, women have been discriminated against in the workplace in favor of discharged soldiers, and the numbers of documented cases are increasing.

“Women served as judges, doctors, and professors, although few women held positions of real economic or political power. A small but increasing number of gender-related discrimination cases were documented. Anecdotal accounts indicated that women and men generally received equal pay for equal work at government-owned enterprises but not always at private businesses. Women in all parts of the country had problems with nonpayment of maternity leave allowances and the unwarranted dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers. Many job announcements openly advertised discriminatory criteria such as age (typically under 35) and physical appearance of female applicants. Women remained underrepresented in law enforcement agencies, although progress continued to be made.” (Cited in: 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; U.S. Department of State, 8 March 2006)

Domestic Violence

In Women 2000 - An Investigation into the Status of Women's Rights in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, the International Helsinki Federation estimated that approximately thirty percent of Bosnian women are victims of domestic violence. The problem is perpetuated by the continuing belief that domestic violence is part of life. As a result, women do not always recognize this violence as a violation of their human rights.

Many women do not report domestic violence, in part due to the stigmatization that it could bring. While the 2002 U.S. Department of State report found that Bosnian police had training in domestic violence, there were still reports of police inaction or a police tendency to blame the woman as initiating the violence. The police force is required to have ten percent of its force represented by females, but in most units, women constitute only three to four percent.

 “Violence against women, including domestic violence and sexual assault, remained a widespread and underreported problem. According to a 2004 study by the Sarajevo faculty of criminology, 20 percent of female respondents indicated that they had been physically abused by their husbands or boyfriends. In 79 percent of these cases, the violence occurred repeatedly. Spousal rape and spousal abuse are illegal in the Federation and the RS; however, domestic violence usually was not reported to the authorities. Experts estimate that only 1 in 10 cases of domestic violence are reported to the police. During the year, the RS domestic violence hotline received 1,019 reports. Both entities adopted a law on domestic violence that requires police to remove the offender from the family home.” (Cited in: 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; U.S. Department of State, 8 March 2006)

The legal framework for combating domestic violence has been improved by laws on domestic violence adopted in the Federation of BH and Republic of Srpska in 2005. See Law on Protection from Domestic Violence (BH) and Law on Protection from Domestic Violence (Srpska). A number of rules have been promulgated relating to the BH law, including treatment for perpetrators and police protocols. Amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence(Srpska) are in discussion as of 2008. The Advocates for Human Rights and the Human Rights Department of the OSCE Mission to FBiH did joint comments on  the proposed amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in March, 2008.

At the moment, there are seven safe houses in BH in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar, Bihac, Modrica, Zenica and Banjaluka. The maximum capacity of these safe houses is 120 places. Shelters and some other organizations active in the field of preventing and combating violence have organized as an informal “Safety Network”. All of them are organized by women’s NGOs, and the majority of them are financed up to 100% through non-governmental funds.

Sexual Harassment

According to the 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, sexual harassment is prohibited by law, but it remains a serious problem that is "poorly understood" by the population. Many women reported they had experienced treatment in the workplace that amounted to sexual harassment. They rarely filed complaints, however, primarily due to a lack of awareness regarding legal protections and a failure to recognize the behavior as harassment.

Sexual Assault

In a 1995 Periodic Report submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the government estimated that between 25,000 to 30,000 Bosnian Muslims were raped as part of the ethnic cleansing campaign during the war.

The International Helsinki Federation notes that sexual assault is rarely reported, and women who do report rape must endure a difficult investigation. Police are neither trained nor sensitive to investigating sexual offences; as a result, they are more inclined to judge the victim based on her appearance, without regard to the physical and psychological trauma she has experienced. Often, the investigation involves at least three cross-examinations, and the victim must prove that the rape actually occurred. She must explain how the rape happened, prove that she attempted to escape, and describe why she was unsuccessful in escaping. Because the law fails to define the terms and procedures for proving the rape, it is often left to the police to interpret the law.

According to the 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, rape, including marital rape, is illegal in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The maximum punishment is a prison sentence of 15 years.  The report notes that, "A sense of shame reportedly prevented some rape victims from complaining to authorities. While police generally responded to reports of sexual assault, they tended not to treat reports of spousal rape with the same seriousness.”

The Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina allows for the prosecution of marital rape. A former provision (before legal reforms in 1998) defined rape as an act against women to whom the perpetrator was not married. Because the act is expressed from the perpetrator's perspective of force, rather than consent, it may be more difficult to show sexual assault occurred when prosecuting marital rape. The 2000 Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska contains similar provisions on sexual assault. The use of force or threat of force to compel another person to engage in a sexual act is punishable by one to ten years' imprisonment. The Code also criminalizes sexual intercourse with a helpless person, sexual intercourse with a juvenile and sexual intercourse by abuse of position. The Brcko District Criminal Code contains similar provisions.

Trafficking in Women

Trafficking is a state-level crime that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Implementation and coordination of anti trafficking law enforcement at all levels of government is the responsibility of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Security.

As noted in 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina