B&H: With Solidarity Against Institutional Violence Against Women/BiH: Solidarno protiv institucionalnog nasilja prema ženama

12 March 2019 – The Inernational Women’s Day was commemorated in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina with the sreet march organized under key message „With Solidarity Against Institutional Violence Against Women”. Nine local civil society organizations and initiatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina – Oštra Nula, Youth Center KVART, Helsinki Citizens Assembly Banja Luka, Association of Women with Disabilities Nika, BASOC (Banja Luka Social Center), Center for Environment, Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Changes, Network for Building Peace, and Foundation United Women – issued public statement, and emphasized that shame and responsibility for violence is always on the side of perpetrator of violence.

Women and men activists of civil society organizations called for changes of legislation and institutional practices in addressing violence against women, and providing assistance to survivors Request for changes in legislation and institutional practices in addressing violence against women focuses on following key points:

-The Law on Protection from Domestic Violence of the Republika Srpska should enable women victims of violence presence of person of trust during all procedures in front of the institutions that are subjects of protection from domestic violence, from reporting violence to ending judicial process;
– Professionals in public institutions should act non-discriminatory toward women;
– Women should be trusted about violent experiences they bravely survived;
-Perpetrators of violence should be subjected to criminal prosecution, and penalties should be applied in line with the sentences regulated by the Criminal Code;
-Courts should be obliged to keep gender desegregated data on cases related to violence against women;
-When intervening in cases of domestic violence, police should remove perpetrator of violence from the house, not women and children survivors of violence;
-Subjects of protection should ensure more efficient implementation of laws on protection from violence, without involving personal believes of professionals;
-To consistently apply urgent protection measures and protection measures against perpetrators of violence, in line with the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence of the Republika Srpska and the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska;
-To enable education of women and men professionals about specifics of violence against women, and prevent their interventions based on deep rooted patriarchal norms and customs, where they force a victim to return to a perpetrator to preserve family life in which women and children are subjected to suffering.

Street march on the International Women’s Day in Banja Luka was part of the regional map of 8 March marches and the international 8 March Campaign “Balance for Better.”

12. mart 2019.g. – Međunarodni dan žena obilježen je u Banjaluci, Bosni i Hercegovini uličnim maršem sa ključnom porukom „Solidarno protiv institucionalnog nasilja prema ženama“. Devet lokalnih organizacija i inicijativa civilnog društva iz Bosne i Hercegovine – Oštra Nula, Omladinski centar KVART, Helsinški parlament građana Banja Luka, Udruženje žena sa invaliditetom Nika, BASOC (Banjalučki socijalni centar), Centar za zaštitu životne sredine, Inicijativa građanke za ustavne promjene, Mreža izgradnje mira i Fondacija Udružene žene – su putem saopštenja za javnost ukazali da je sramota i odgovornost za nasilje uvijek na strani počinioca.
Aktivistkinje i aktivisti organizacija civilnog društva su pozvale/i na promjene zakona i institucionalnih praksi u vezi sa nasiljem prema ženama i pružanjem podrške preživjelima, uz naročitu pažnju na slijedeće probleme i potrebe:
– Zakon o zaštiti od nasilja u porodici Republike Srpske treba da reguliše i omogući ženama žrtvama nasilja prisustvo osobe od povjerenja tokom svih procedura pred institucijama koje su subjekti zaštite od nasilja u porodici, od prijave nasilja do okončanja postupka pred sudom;
– Da se službena lica ponašaju nediskriminirajuće u odnosu na žene;
– Da se ženama vjeruje zbog nasilnog iskustva koje su hrabro preživjele;
– Da se protiv počinitelja nasilja pokrene krivični postupak i da se kazni u skladu sa kaznom propisanom za djelo koje je počinio;
– Da se ustanovi obaveza sudova da kontinuirano vode podatke razvrstane po polu u vezi sa predmetima nasilja prema ženama;
– Da se pri policijskim intervencijama u slučajevima nasilja u porodici iz kuće uklanja počinilac nasilja a ne žene i djeca koji su preživjeli nasilje;
– Efikasniju primjenu zakona u oblasti zaštite od nasilja bez mješanja ličnih uvjerenja službenih lica;
– Da se počinitelju nasilja dosljedno izriču hitne mjere zaštite i zaštitne mjere propisane Zakonom o zaštiti od nasilja u porodici Republike Srpske i Krivičnim zakonom Republike Srpske;
– Da se službenici i službenice obrazuju o specifičnosti nasilja prema ženama i da se spriječi njihovo postupanje po ustaljenim patrijarhalnim normama i običajima, gdje žrtvu prisiljavaju da se vrati počiniocu nasilja po cijenu očuvanja porodice u kojoj opet trpe žena i djeca.

Ovogodišnji marš je dio regionalne mape osmomartovskih marševa kao i međunarodne kampanje povodom 8. marta – Međunarodnog dana žena Balance for better.