Sexualised violence against refugee women

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Published: October 28, 2024

"Sexualised violence against women, especially as victims of war and against refugee women" was the focus of a workshop on 26 September 2024 in Sarajevo. The topic is highly topical in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is located on the Balkan route and is increasingly not only a transit country but also a host country for refugees.

The event took place within the framework of institutional support and was jointly organised by IRZ and the non-governmental organisation Vaša Prava, which operates a nationwide network for legal advice and representation of people in need and vulnerable groups. The target groups and participants were addressees from all governmental and non-governmental institutions working in the field of "migration and asylum procedures".

Using numerous case studies, the speakers raised awareness of the various constellations in which refugee women experience sexualised violence. Examples included experiences of abuse in the country of origin and during flight, but also in the host country and in the accommodation centres there. They referred to the recognition of sexualised violence as a recognised reason for flight and asylum.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina – as in Germany – it is a major problem for victims to provide evidence when reporting cases of sexualised violence during the asylum procedure, which means that the act of violence cannot always be classified as clearly gender-specific. This can have a negative impact on the determination of a corresponding asylum status.

The public in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not yet sufficiently aware of gender-specific or sexualised crimes, which are often not perceived as crimes. As in cases of domestic violence, victims often do not report the offences out of shame or fear of the perpetrators. Another complicating factor for victim protection is the lack of accommodation facilities, which leads to overcrowding in many places. Imprecise legal provisions, such as the regulations regarding so-called "safe zones" for refugees, are another problem.

The exchange of experiences during the workshop was unanimously recognised by the participants as a further step towards safeguarding the rights of refugee women, strengthening their position in society and thus increasing gender equality in the sense of strengthening human rights.

Further information in the local language can be found on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/vasaprava/