Bosnia and Herzegovina NGO Statement by Diana Sehic

To the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

on the Occasion of Submission of Combined Initial, Second and Third Periodic Report of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Thank you Madame Chair for giving me the opportunity to address the Committee. I am Diana Sehic and I will be speaking on behalf of Global Rights and 19 women’s human rights NGOs.

I will cover three main issues related to serious violations of women’s rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and my colleague will cover the remaining issues. Bosnia and Herzegovina has presented only one report to the CEDAW Committee in 1993, which was prepared under special circumstances due to the ongoing war and was focused almost exclusively on the situation of women in armed conflict.

Since the report, the main problems related to women’s rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina are: lack of participation of women in political and public life, non- implementation of the Gender Equality Law, the weak national mechanisms for gender equality, non-consistent legal framework for domestic violence.

1. LACK OF PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN POLITICAL LIFE

Related to Articles 1, 2, and 7 and General Recommendation 23

Discrimination against women in political and public life is characterized by a gap between the law and reality: the under-representation of women in elected bodies and state institutions, and unequal distribution of social power between men and women. The recent adoption of the of election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not incorporate provisions as provided for in the Gender Equality Law which prescribes equal representation of women and men in the governmental bodies, including judiciary, legislative and executive and all other public services.

2. NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF GENDER EQUALITY LAW AND WEAK NATIONAL GENDER MECHANISMS

Regarding Articles 1,2 and 3

Although the Gender Equality Law was adopted in 2003,otherlegislations do not harmonize accordingly and we still urgently require the full implementation of the law and the realization of the substantial gender equality in practice.

Despite an increasing expansion of gender mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the form of gender centers in entities, a state level gender agency and numerous gender commissions at all levels of power these mechanisms have failed to improve the position of women. The lack of political will is the primary reason why these mechanisms do not work; lack of expertise, resources and political influence act as obstacles for the full implementation.

3. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (IN THE FAMILY)

Regarding Articles 1 and 2 and General Recommendation 19

The Gender Equality Law and Criminal Codes in both entities recognize violence against women as criminal offence punishable by fine and imprisonment. However the laws on Domestic Violence in adopted in both entities recently do not reflect these provisions. In the Republic of Srpska VAW is defined as a minor offence punishable by fine only which is not the case in BH Federation. Although the acts of domestic violence is nearly identical as defined in the Criminal Code, the definition of minor offence minimizes the seriousness of domestic violence leading to insecurity and different treatments by the police depending on the place where the offence occurred.

This lack of harmonization of these legislations lead to different sentences prescribed for the violators. Furthermore, by-laws which clearly outlines duties and responsibilities of the police, provisions for mandatory psycho-social treatment and medical treatment have not been adopted which has resulted with non-implementation of these laws.

For more details please refer to our NGO Report. Thank you Madame Chair.

May16th, 2006.

This page was last updated on July 16, 2006

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