The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA

Support from the International Community
Few <strong>of</strong> the international NGOs that deal with violence have remained in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. One exception is the International Rescue Committee
(IRC). From the beginning, a good programme on reproductive health included
protocols for dealing with issues <strong>of</strong> violence. IRC set up the SOS telephone
service in Gorazde, and through the local women’s NGO, Anima, has assisted
the community in awareness <strong>of</strong> reproductive health and the necessity <strong>of</strong> highquality
health services. IRC addressed issues <strong>of</strong> violence against women from
the outset. IRC practice is recognized by its grass-roots approach to develop
networks among women’s NGOs and to include responsible community
members in programme implementation. IRC has also fostered reconciliation
between different ethnic groups through its educational programmes in
reproductive health.
<strong>The</strong> International Police Task Force (IPTF) is not focused on domestic
violence. However, it has initiated certain actions to do so. IPTF Public Affairs
Officers conducted a domestic violence campaign in June 2001.
Local police are encouraged to deal with violence and to improve their
attitudes towards the victims. Women have been encouraged to take part. Each
police station has local women present who are trained in domestic violence
issues. A six-month follow-up provides some data on the incidence and
prevalence <strong>of</strong> violence. In each <strong>of</strong> the seven regions <strong>of</strong> Bosnia and Herzegovina,
on average two cases are reported monthly (14 cases monthly across the
country). An IPTF <strong>of</strong>ficer noted that domestic violence was underreported.
Concentration Camp Violence
A common practice in concentration camps is to force male prisoners to
sexually assault, rape or humiliate one another. In addition, the controlling
army’s soldiers rape women. Violence is used as a tool to control the enemy’s
civilian population, indirectly to humiliate the enemy’s army and furthermore to
destroy their communities. From a sociological point <strong>of</strong> view, violence in
concentration camps is a direct assault on an individual’s body and self, the
motivation being to “destroy community and demolish the social order upon
which the community had thrived for centuries.” 19 In Bosnia and Herzegovina,
sadistic rape camps were constructed with the aim <strong>of</strong> shredding the social fabric
<strong>of</strong> society.
<strong>The</strong> mass rape <strong>of</strong> women and young girls during the war was not a
consequence <strong>of</strong> the warfare but a design to destroy families and erode
19 K. Doubt, Sociology after Bosnia and Kosova (New York, Lanham, Boulder; Oxford, Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000) p. 2.
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