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Mostar Intercultural Festival Organizing Committee

 

V-DAY

until the violence stops

                                                                                       

Gender Violence in Herzegovina

Violence and sexual abuse of women and girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a pervasive yet under recognized human rights violation. Unfortunately, sexual abuse happens much more often than it is written or spoken about it.

One of the dominant problems regarding this issue is its understanding as a domestic violence that is not legally defined in any Bosnian law, regulation or police statement. As a general rule, women in Bosnia and Herzegovina refrain from reporting cases of violence and sexual abuse because Bosnian society is strongly and traditionally patriarchal. In many cases Bosnian society views problem of violence as a very private thing.

Thousand of woman on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina are living and accepting violence day-by-day in their life because they do not have any proper mean to fight it. Those women are carrying their trauma and living with it without having any proper chance to speak about it, find help, often feeling ashamed and left behind from society. They are aware that if they try to speak or to find help they could be accused or sealed by their community and family.

Roots for this kind of behaving we can find in the society structure which is not allowing women and young girls to build their confidence and find their place and role. It is very clear that gender violence has many levels and forms, but no matter which one we are taking into consideration, the result is always the same. It is one of the heaviest wounds on a personal level as well as on a society level that is always leaving deep injuries. According to the questionnaire that was made on the territory of Herzegovina-Neretva canton, 76% of the women had witnessed the violence and 56% has or is experiencing the violence.

It becomes very clear that abuses and discrimination of woman and girls in Mostar region, as well as in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a kind of taboo, about which we have to start speaking openly, breaking the wall of silence, restoring the consciousness and public who does not want to recognize importance and seriousness of this problem. Also, on the territory of Herzegovina problem of violence is very much present but up to now it has never been taken as a really serious problem by the public and governmental institutions. Therefore, we can say that this problem stays on society margins, inaccessible.

One of the aims that V-day has is to contribute to prevail prejudice and open possibilities for woman and men to get informed and learn more about their rights, identity and possibilities. Woman all over the world are very much aware that we are living in a world in which they do not feel safe that in one moment of their life they could become a victims of sexual abuse and discrimination.

V-Day Campaign

V-day was born in 1998 as an outgrowth of Eve Ensler's play, "The Vagina Monologues", which expresses the violence that suffer women and young girls all around the world. This theatre performance was held in many countries, and it became very clear that this violence does not recognize nationality, religion or political background borders.

That is how V-day has become a global movement spreading a new vision of the world in which woman and girls will be able to live with their full dignity and freedom. Only in year 2002, more than 800 V-Day benefit events were presented through V –Day World wide campaign and College campaign, educating millions of people about the reality of violence, helping and supporting women to find and discover their own identity.

For four years it is growing and gathering women from all over the world. This year V Day campaign will happen from February to March trying to gather Valentines day and Woman’s day in a creative and progressive atmosphere that will attempt to make the mentalities evolve about this issue.

Two towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo and Mostar, have united their forces to organize V Day campaign in both of the cities, sharing their experience and knowledge on this project. The whole town and surrounding of will be included in this project on different levels through medias, marketing, public events, workshops, exhibitions and anti violence campaign.

Campaign in Sarajevo, one of the biggest in Europe, will be turned more to the rest or Eastern Europe gathering actresses, volunteers and does who are interested in giving contribution. The one in Mostar will be more turned to its region and the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a special accent on young people, giving them chance, place and possibility to find more about equality, human rights, gender issues. We want that Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes one of the strong world spots that are supporting fight against violence and a support point of V Day global movement. Cooperation and corroboration between Sarajevo and Mostar, as well as with other V Day organizer will be constant and interactive.

“Rape free zone“ campaign is a part of V-day campaign.  Through this campaign we will become part of “World Rape free zone “campaign which is encouraging people all over the world to mark their communities as “Rape free zone”. We want to work with the local community, authorities, and schools to proclaim Mostar city as “Rape free zone”. On that way we will try to send a very strong message about what the violence is and how to fight it, as well as to strength the authorities’ involvement about this problem.

 

for more information on V-DAY campaign- Mostar2003

contact : Ana Marinčić

Adress:  Lacina 6, 88000 Mostar

Tel: ++387(0)36 552 039

or dial: ++ 387(0)36 311 126

Fax: ++ 387(0)36 311 126

mobile phone:++387 063 407 309

e-mail adress: ana_labih@hotmail.com    vdaymostar@yahoo.com  

all information about v-day campaign worldwide: http://www.vday.com/

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