The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Nonetheless, the cooperation of some feminist organizations was not
torn apart. Their numerous activities gave rise to new groups and organizations,
as well as to the network Zamir (“forpeace”). Once the war
started, this work, and many important meetings, could only be carried
out in neighbouring foreign countries, and only with the support of local
organizations, particularly women’s organizations.
The feminist movement arose as early as the 1970s and ‘80s as a common
movement in Zagreb, Ljubljana, Belgrade and Sarajevo. Ties and
friendships created at that time have lasted to this day. Women have
been the first to use their old networks for communication with other
women from other nationalities and countries. That helped to keep them
from adopting the prejudices and nationalist stereotypes subconsciously
themselves, and enabled them to ward off the propaganda. Such
women as Biljana Kašic, ´ Nadežda Cacinovic, ˇ
ˇ ˇ Rada Ivekovic, ´ Vesna Pusic, ´
Je lena Zuppe, Vesna Kesic, ´ Lydia Sklevicky, Maja Miles, Slavenka Drakulic´
and Djurdja Kneževic ´ built the first feminist work in Yugoslavia and
organized the first women’s groups, ecological associations and hotlines
for woman victims of violence. The war did not end their cooperation
with their connections. Rather, they were the first to organize support
for the victims of war and to speak out against prejudice, nationalism
and war. They were attacked, threatened and labelled as “witches”.
In the post-Yugoslav countries, basic human rights continue to be denied
by the conservative, nationalistic state policies, and by massive nation -
alism; in some places, rights already achieved have been called into
question. An attempt has been made to force women back into their
traditional roles as mothers and wives, and to limit their rights and freedoms
to the privacy of their family surroundings. The war introduced
new dimensions of physical and psychological terror against women,
and dramatically restricted the material and social status of women.
Since the war, society has generally become more militant. The character
of family violence has changed, and the figures for rape, prostitution
and human trafficking have risen. Even children are strongly affected by
this. The societal and economic condition of women has deteriorated
because of inflation, minimal social supports and discrimination.
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