prijava
SARAJEVO, August 27 (FENA) - An exhibition titled "Breaking Free" opened last night at the Bosnian Cultural Center (BKC) in Sarajevo. The authors are members of the "Forgotten Children of War" association.
It is an exhibition that aims to draw public attention to the problems faced by women, survivors of wartime rape and children born as a result of this ruthless act, and to show the struggle, strength, persistence and, above all, humanity in the struggle of these individuals.
“We want to show what these women have gone through and survived and that they should not suffer stigma and discrimination in BiH because of it. A woman is never guilty of violence, a woman is not a territory over which wars are fought and won,” said the president of the “Forgotten Children of War” association, Ajna Jusić.
The laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not recognize the category of children born as a result of wartime events, so the intent of the exhibition, she added, is to draw attention to children whose fathers were so-called "peacekeepers", that is, members of stationary/peacekeeping troops or foreign humanitarian missions staff during the 1992-1995 aggression against BiH, and whose mothers are local women.
The association is launching the "one parent's name" initiative, because, as Jusić explained, all the documents require a father's name, but unfortunately, children like her, as well as other children born as a result of wartime rape, do not have the father's name.
“We consider it important that our mothers have the opportunity to have their names on our documents, but our legal team is actively working to find the best solution, and we will submit the initiative at the end of the year to the BiH Parliament,” noted Jusić.
Many NGOs provide support to children and mothers. A member of the Cure Foundation, Jadranka Miličević believes that the BiH society discriminates against children, but also against their mothers, women who are survivors of wartime violence.
She stated that, out of 20,000 raped women, only 1,000 have received a symbolic compensation for what they had gone through during the war.
“We are looking for new laws for the whole of BiH, but none of the representatives of political parties wants to bring this issue to the public arena,” said Miličević.
The Breaking Free exhibition is planned to tour most of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Europe, and they have called this tour "The Caravan of the Forgotten", because they believe it is important to remind society of the living consequences of war and thus show that they are ready to share their stories, to talk to society but solely for the sake of creating a better future for the coming generations unencumbered by divisions and nationalism.
The exhibition was created in collaboration with Syrian-French artist Sakher Almonem and will be on display until September 12.
(FENA) S. R.
