International Women’s Day march was held this year in Banja Luka under the slogan: WOMEN Are Angry, Women Are No Longer SILENT!
The march started exactly at noon from the plateau of the National Theater of Republic of Srpska, and the participants, walking all the way to Krajina Square, said: “Women on the streets, no longer in obituaries”, “I don’t want to be brave, I want to be free”, “Don’t do the dishes today, you will do it tomorrow”, “Raise your sons to respect women”, “Her blood is on everyone’s hands”…
As lawyer Jovana Kisin Zagajac pointed out on this occasion, that the state must take the side of the woman from the first report of violence.
“Police officers, the prosecutor who is in charge of the case should qualify it in the right way and that case should reach the court, and only 30 percent of the reported cases reach the same,” said Kisin Zagajac.
Aleksandra Petrić from the Foundation United Women’s said that last year 10 women’s lives were lost, and 7 attempted murders of women were recorded.
“Institutions have a weak reaction to violence against women. Last year, 10 women were killed, they were victims of femicide, and there were 7 attempted femicides. This year, two women were killed in Tuzla. Also, in the past two years, over 1,300 women and children who were victims of domestic violence were housed in safe houses in BiH, while in 2022, over 3,000 cases of domestic violence were reported,” said Petrić, stating that there is a wide tolerance for violence coming from institutions.
The greatest responsibility lies with the police and prosecutors, she said, and the victims must be protected by the system, because violence is a matter of institutions, not a private matter of the victim.
The participants of the march also pointed out that the perpetrators of violence must be adequately sanctioned.
“On behalf of all women who lost their lives in a brutal way, on behalf of those who suffer violence every day, on behalf of all those who face injustice, we demand the responsibility of society and institutions for the safety of women, for equal representation, for justice and respect of basic human rights”, it was stated from International Women’s Day march in Banja Luka.
