July 21, 2022

Bosnia recognises children of wartime sexual violence

topic:	Child rights
located:	Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

Editor's note: this article contains references to acts of sexual violence.

In Bosnia, children born out of wartime rape have been recognised by law for the very first time since the 1992-95 war ended. Last Thursday, the Protection of Civilian Victims of War Law was adopted in the Brčko District, one of the three constituent parts of the country.  

"We welcome this significant step forward, the value of which is primarily reflected in the symbolic act of the final legal and social recognition of children born as a result of war as a special category of civilian victims of war,”  said Adrijana Hanušić Bećirović from TRIAL International. “This represents a precedent both for Bosnia and Herzegovina and for Europe, while at the global level, it is among the first recognitions of this kind.”

It is the first positive response to international recommendations for this category of victims since the UN Secretary General and several UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights called on states to respond to the needs of children born due to war. The act is also backed by the recent decision of the International Criminal Court, which established that children born due to rape and sexual slavery are direct victims of these crimes and have the right to reparations.

“A momentous step is recognising children born due to war-time sexual violence as a separate category of victims. Such children will be given special consideration in the investigations & prosecutions by my office,” commented Karim Khan, a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. 

These children and their mothers have been often faced with stigma and isolation. They were marginalised and ostracised, and even talking about them was taboo. Therefore the state has no official data on the exact number of these children either. Their mothers often raised them in difficult socio-economic conditions without additional support.

“We will not remain invisible. We will have our opportunities. I hope the citizens will realise that the myths that we are the enemy's children are not valid. With our activism, we are trying to make this country a place where discrimination is not an option,” Ajna Jusić from Forgotten Children of War Association told the media. 

She stressed that it is also a critical moment for mothers since they underwent many problems raising their children and, simultaneously, fought for legal recognition. 

“Congratulations, to the mothers,” Jusić added. 

Photo by Liv Bruce

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