Debating Sexual Violence in Conflict in DokuFest

On Friday (August 14), inside the beautiful old Hamam Museum in Prizren, a debate took place on a tough but important topic: sexual violence in conflict.

Moderated by Kosovo Women’s Network’s Igballe Rugova, panellists Bakira Hasecic (president of the Association of Women Victims of War), Flora Macula (from UN Women), Veprore Shehu (from Medica Kosova) and Danish documentary filmmaker Katia Forbert Peterson talked about sexual violence in conflict in Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The discussion covered the consequences for survivors and for society, and the importance of access to justice and reconciliation.

Peterson is the co-director of the documentary film “Mission Rape: A Tool of War” which screened earlier in the day on Friday at DokuFest. The film, which includes Hasecic as a protagonist, shows how mass rape has been used as a tool of war in modern combat, such as in the former Yugoslavia wars. Although up to 40,000 women were victims of mass rape in those conflicts, only a handful of sexual violence war crimes have been prosecuted. For the women in the film, securing justice is what they live for; all hope that one day they can reclaim their lives and their dignity.

Hasecic, herself a rape survivor, and one of the most prominent and vocal activists in the former Yugoslavia, spoke about the courageous work of her organization. The Association of Women Victims of War campaigns for the rights of wartime rape survivors in Bosnia and Herzegovina and fights for justice by gathering evidence about war criminals from Republika Srpska.

“I am only one of thousands of women that were raped during the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Hasecic. “At that time my daughters were, 16 and 19 years old. I would never have believed that my neighbor from the other ethnicity could do [such] evil to [fellow] citizens, just because you don’t belong to his ethnic group.”

Hasecic spoke of all the testimonies gathered from women, including herself, about their horrific experiences and how it still hasn’t helped to capture the criminals and bring them to justice. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found her aggressor guilty of a range of war crimes, but despite Hasecic’s testimonies, it failed to prosecute him on rape charges.

Hasecic pointed out that her organization initially found it very difficult to find survivors who were prepared to speak up, but gradually more and more women began to speak about their experiences, and the number of testimonies grew every day.

She said that the making of “Mission Rape: A Tool of War” will help to raise awareness of the terrors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will encourage even more women to speak up. “We decided to film a movie like this, so first the international community listens up,” she explained. “Although there were many testimonies at the Hague to raise the awareness of those who won’t hear us, to give a little strength to women who can’t break the silence.”

Following the documentary’s release, Hasecic told the audience that many women from different parts of the world contacted her, wanting to share their own horrors. “What I have to say is that me and all those women, we are going to fight in our own ways till the last breath, so more war criminals will get what they deserve,” she said.

Hasecic expressed that she is happy to be in Kosovo because she believes that all of the survivors of sexual violence from the region need to join forces through a big campaign in order to break the silence.

Macula talked about the ongoing fight by the survivors of sexual violence to have their rights recognized. She emphasized that the United Nations Security Council only passed a resolution that recognizes sexual violence as a war crime in 2008. She went on to explain the importance of the resolution to the region, and how women’s rights NGOs have utilized the resolution to further support women.

In Kosovo, after strong campaigns by organizations such as UN Women, Medica and Kosovo Women’s Network, the parliament of Kosovo finally passed an amendment that recognizes women who were sexually assaulted during the 1999 war as war crime victims. A National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence, directed by President Atifete Jahjaga, has also subsequently been established.

Macula pointed out that besides violating fundamental human rights, rape used in armed conflict has a tremendous effect on women’s lives. She recalled the words that she had heard from a Bosniak refugee from Visegrad in 1992: “‘At first they came and stole everything we had in the shops, then the house. Then they took our husbands, undressed them, put them in the tunnel and killed them. But the hardest thing was when they came, selected and took our best girls.”

Shehu pointed out that breaking the silence has had a huge impact on women’s ability to receive justice. “Every process of change in favour of these women has to do with their courage to break the silence and get support from society,” she said.

Medica faced many challenges immediately after the 1999 war in Kosovo, Shehu explained. Just like the experiences faced by Hasecic in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Medica struggled to provide services to sexual assault survivors as war rape was still such a taboo subject. They would knock on doors around the whole of Kosovo, in places where they knew that war crimes had been committed.

“We would go to give condolences to the family members and gradually exposed our offer of providing services to women who were raped,” said Shehu. “Our services include helping them to deal with their traumatic experiences and helping them with social, judicial and economic aspects.”

Shehu said that it took four years of intensive work before the first women spoke up about her experiences.

In total, 145 women have spoken out to Medica; of these 100 showed clear signs of having been subjected to sexual violence. Shehu said that in Kosovo, the work of NGOs, and the support of President Atifete Jahjaga and the National Council, is encouraging more women to come forward every day. In a sign that some small steps of progress are being made, a few days ago the first male claiming to be a victim of wartime sexual violence knocked on Medica’s doors./DOKUFEST