Stories

In this section we will, as much as possible, try to describe the individual situations of women who receive this support. All women are wartime sexual violence survivors from Bosnia and Herzegovina and have been affected by floods and landslides in May 2014. They live in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some of them have succeeded in obtaining the status of civil victim of war that in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina guarantees around 260 EUR per month as some sort of financial assistance or pension. However, they do not enjoy other rights provided by this status such as access to health protection, priority in securing of adequate housing, professional rehabilitation and priority in employment etc. In many cases when women are receiving this financial support they are also the sole breadwinners of their numerous families (usually living in the households with extended family members) or are spending majority of the received amount on the expensive medicine they are taking for the injuries caused by the crimes they survived.

All of the women have experienced displacement during the war. Some returned to their places of residence prior to the war but majority remained in the places of their displacement trying to build their new lives there. Some of the women are members of the survivors associations and as such are meeting on regular basis in the association usually knitting, sewing and making jewelry and socializing as part of psychosocial support. Some of the women have received psychological trauma support. However, some have decided not to be part of the associations or did not have the chance to join them given their isolated place of living. Some decided to try to live their lives trying to put their traumatic war experiences aside. Some could not do that. Some went through experience of testifying at the court, some still have not had the chance to see their perpetrators be brought to justice, some opted not to testify. While for majority societal stigma is something they continuously experience and many are feeling abandoned by the society and are disillusioned with the access to the justice mechanisms, their living conditions and experiences are individual.

With respect to the floods and landslides until now we have succeeded in reaching in different capacity 18 women. 7 have been affected by floods and 11 by landslides. Our first interventions were in food, hygienic products, emergency small amounts of cash (in cases where they could access the stores), clothing, laundry, toys for their children and alike. This was primarily directed to women who were forced to leave their homes and were in temporary housing, but later also to the women who just returned to their houses once the water withdrew. Later we were able to make some interventions with delivering furniture, house appliances and similar, as well as to pay the rent for temporary housing for women who could not return to their houses which were entirely damaged.

Responding to damages caused by floods is simpler compared to damages caused by land slides because once the water withdrew women were able to return to their homes. They found their homes in horrible conditions, all their furniture and all the housing was destroyed, as well as their clothing, laundry, linen, blankets, toys for their children (level of water was over 3 m in some parts) but at least they had a roof over their head. Immediately after the floods the urgent intervention meant securing food supplies and hygienic products as they were temporarily displaced. However, once the water withdrew they were able to return to their houses and our primary concern became helping them with house appliances, furniture, clothing, maybe windows, and anything else that would facilitate their return to normalcy.

The interventions with respect to landslides are more complicated as these women had their houses completely destroyed and had thus permanently lost a roof over their head.

At the moment we know of 11 women whose houses are affected with the landslides. Two women were forced to entirely leave their homes with their families since the houses were completely destroyed. Our intervention towards them was focused on supporting them financially through paying the rent for their temporary housing, as the municipality did not offer them adequate shelters. Other 9 women are currently living in damaged houses and on active landslides. Some of them returned to their partially destroyed houses as they did not have other choices once the temporary housing provided by the municipality became unavailable and are at the moment feeling better there than in any form of temporary housing. However, once the rain season starts and autumn and winter approach many will have to move to the temporary solutions for safety reasons.

 

Following are some of the closer stories about the situation the women are:

Please note that due to the stigma surrounding the survivors of wartime sexual violence the personal stories are made anonymous. No names, cities or other types of information that might reveal their identity are provided in the stories below.

In the stories below we have indicated the help we have been able to provide thus far as well as the continuous needs and the ways you can help.

Apart from the donations specifically highlighted in the stories many of the women presented below, as well as many other women survivors of wartime rape that are not particularly presented here, have also received donations in forms of clothing, hygiene articles, food, food for children and alike.

 

1 -, A mother of three children – the youngest one being only 10 months old. She and her family are internally displaced, neither she nor her husband work. They live of her monthly benefits she receives as a victim of wartime sexual violence. Until the flooding they lived in a house they rented, but the house is now partially destroyed due to the landslides that became active during the catastrophic flooding in May 2014. When the landslides started they were first transferred to temporary housing provided by the authorities, but this lasted only for a month. After that, for a while they returned and kept living in that semi-destroyed house without access to fresh water or electricity. At the end, living in such circumstances, with a 10-month old baby, has become unbearable and the family has decided to move to another city looking for work opportunities and better living conditions.

Our first intervention for this family included emergency cash fund of 50 EUR. Later we brought dippers, hygienic products, some clothing. Through the donations received this family was helped with finding alternative housing by providing rent money for 6 months (1,423.1 BAM) at their new residence of living. The money will help them settle down while pursuing work opportunities.

What can you help with?

It would be great if you can assist them with permanent housing solution. Also employment solutions are welcomed.

 

2 –, A mother of one child. She and her husband, internally displaced persons, managed to build themselves a home after the war, in a municipality where they found refugee. Throughout the years they have worked hard to build themselves a new house and put the child through school (the child is now attending university education). During the flooding and landslides that hit the municipality hard, their house was completely destroyed. Although the court found her perpetrator guilty of war crimes he committed against her, she has thus far not received a status as civilian victim of war that would grant her a monthly benefit. She is now in the process of applying for that status but until that is resolved she and her husband live of the money they manage to earn on a local market, selling goods. Since their house was completely destroyed in the land slide they are now living in alternative housing, paying rent of 200 BAM per month.

Our first intervention for this family included emergency cash fund of 50 EUR. Later we brought hygienic products, some clothing and some food. Through the cash donations received we were able to provide this family rent money for 2 months (400 BAM).

What can you help with?

More money is needed to help cover the rent for this struggling family, at least until her status as civilian victim of war is resolved and she starts receiving the monthly benefit. This is the family that will have to build new house on the new land as the location were the destroyed house has been made has been proclaimed unusable for building so any support for the building of the house is welcomed.

 

3 – An elderly lady, living with her husband and son and his family (two grandchildren). Their house has been partially damaged during the landslides and although the authorities are saying it is “safe” for the family to live there, the fact that the landslide nearby their house is still active and the house walls have cracked has created additional stress with her. She cannot sleep as she is afraid the house will crash. At the moment we don’t know how the authorities will decide in terms of the status of this house – whether the authorities are going to decide to remediate the landslide or are going to declare this part unlivable. This should be known within two months time.

Our first intervention for this family included emergency cash fund of 50 EUR. Later we brought hygienic products, some clothing and some food.

What can you help with?

Depending on the decision on municipality authorities there are two options: either this family will have to move out and rent will have to be paid for temporary housing and then any assistance with the building of the new house will be welcomed or, in better case scenario, the assistance with fixing the damage to the house will be needed.

 

4 – An internally displaced person who lives with her family in house that was completely flooded during the catastrophe in May. She herself is ill and has difficulty in walking larger distances. She and her family continue to live in the house that was flooded (which is not their house, but they have been renting it) and house is now damp while the furniture and household equipment have been partially destroyed.

Our first intervention for this family included emergency cash fund of 50 EUR. Later we brought hygienic products, some clothing and some food. Through the donations received we helped her to buy a freezer in the amount of 449 BAM, which she deemed to be the priority.

What can you help with?

This family, due to the difficult socioeconomic situation they find themselves in, will continue to live in this alternative housing. Any kind of support to help them resolve the permanent housing is welcomed.

 

5 – An internally displaced person who lives with her family in house that was completely flooded during the catastrophe in May (they succeeded in saving some clothing and dishes). She has returned to her house, where she lives together with her husband and two children. When we first came into contact with her, immediately after the flooding she was starting to clean her house from the mud and was in the beginning of the process of drying the walls and floors. After that, the slow process of complete reconstruction of the living areas was to start.

Through the donations received we helped this family to buy a cocking stow, washing machine and detergent in the amount of 853 BAM, which she deemed to be the priority.

What can you help with?

Any support for the furniture or other house appliances is welcomed.

 

6 –, A returnee who lives with her mother and daughter in a house that was completely destroyed during the floods. The house is situated in a rural area, some 15-20 km from a city, was not completely finalized prior to the floods and landslides, it lacked frontage and only the first floor (which was flooded) was in a livable condition. After the flooding she moved to the upper floor, which was not finalized, so now she lives between bare walls. When visited by our activists we noted that she is in need of everything – furniture, clothes, household equipment, kitchen utensils etc.

On our first visit she was given a cash donation in the amount of 50 EUR as well food and hygiene articles in the amount of 137 BAM. Our activists gathered different donations in forms of furniture, household equipment (fridge and washing machine), kitchen utensils and alike, while from the cash donations gathered we bought her a cocking stow in the amount of 439 BAM. We also used 160 BAM to rent a mini van so we can transport the stuff to there.

What can you help with?

As we have managed to provide her with furniture, household equipment, and everything else in terms of emergency relief the best way to help her is by providing money for purchase of food and clothing especially as this family used to live on their agriculture crops and this year this is going to be impossible as all the crops were destroyed by floods.

 

7 – A returnee, a mother of three children, the youngest being 18 months. She also has a son who is approximately 7 years old and a teen girl that is intellectually disabled. This family was in a particularly difficult socioeconomic situation, even before the flooding and landslides. The house they live in is damp and the walls have cracked on couple of places. The house has no running water.

Our activists bought food and hygiene articles in the amount of 137 BAM. She also received a cash donation in the amount of 50 EUR.

What can you help with?

As this family is in a difficult socioeconomic situation as it is, our activists think that the most helpful approach would be to support the children and their education. Also any option to build new house is welcomed.

 

Apart from those donations in cash, clothes, hygiene articles, toys for the baby etc. will for sure be welcomed.

 

8 – A mother of 3 children is living in the rented house damaged by the landslides with her 3 children and husband. The youngest child is four years old. She is internally displaced. All five of them live on the benefits she receives as the civil victim of war. Husband used to work but lost his job due to illness.

Our activists bought food and hygiene articles in the amount of 114.20 BAM.

What can you help with?

As this family is in a difficult socioeconomic situation as it is our activists think that the most helpful approach would be to support the children and their education. Also any option to build new house is welcomed. For this woman it would be good to provide capital for starting small business.

 

9 – This woman is a returnee. She lives with her two children, mother in law and her husband. Recently her husband had a stroke and is currently immobile. He requires full time assistance. Her daughter intended to start agricultural faculty this year but due to the events they do not have sufficient financial means to send her of to school. She hopes she can still do it next year.

This is an incredibly strong woman that provides for her entire family. Earlier she applied for an agricultural grant and was given two greenhouses so she earns for their living by selling fruits, vegetables and diary products she produces. The flooding and the stroke her husband suffered from have disrupted her plans for this years agricultural production which consequently means that the money she planned to earn for living is now no longer available.

Our first intervention for this woman and her family included buying of specific hygiene articles for her husband (due to his immobility) and food in the amount of 115 BAM.

How can you help?

Our assessment is that apart from cash donations that the family can use to cover further purchase of specific articles to assist the nurturing of the husband, the best way to help this woman and her family is to provide for a scholarship for her daughter so she can attend the agricultural faculty as she planned. Further details on what that support would mean on monthly basis, for a one year period, will be provided shortly.