In Our Own Words: What It’s Like to Be a Woman in Bosnia
This summer, Women for Women International is running a Facebook project that details the stories of women in their programs, as well as brief histories and current events from the eight countries where their programs operate. If you would like to learn more about this progressive project, then I encourage you to please visit the following links: facebook.com/womenforwomen or twitter.com/womenforwomen.
Though the Dayton Peace Accord ending the war in Bosnia was signed in 1995, the effects of the war did not disappear, especially among women.
During the war, rape and humiliation were used as weapons; including rape concentration camps. Though the end of the war brought some peace, the inequality and lack of self-sufficiency among women has yet to disappear.
Women for Women International is working to give women in Bosnia the confidence they deserve. Though their ideas are not always well respected in their communities, meeting with other women has given them sympathy and a support network. “I wanted to get together with other people and to hear how they managed to survive, what were their stories… this really helped me to calm my own nerves…” a woman in the Bosnia program said.
In addition, the training programs have helped them survive the harsh economic situation that was left behind when the war ended. With 60% of all houses destroyed and 50% of the schools gone, the country has a lot of rebuilding ahead. In the Women for Women International programs, more than $57 million in loans has been distributed in Bosnia, with a 99.5% repayment rate. One participant started her own chicken-breeding business, and said, “I sold everything! If I had more I could sell even those. Therefore I am going to buy more next time and earn even more money.”
The programs in Bosnia have given women job opportunities, leadership positions in their communities, and an increased say in their family life.
“I am beginning to understand the importance of women’s role in society. When I was young, I thought the only work I could do was in the home and being a mother. Those were the obligations of my own mother, I believe that was all she knew.”
