Medica Zenica – where it all began ...

In 1992, as the grenades hailed down during the war in Bosnia, Cologne-based gynaecologist Dr Monika Hauser decided to no longer simply stand and watch the horrific crimes against women. She made an impromptu trip to Zenica in Central Bosnia, to support women and girls who had been raped and tortured during the war. There she met Bosnian women doctors and psychologists - women who also wanted to act together to combat the nationalistic war frenzy.

Together they set up the Medica Zenica multi-ethnic therapy centre while the war was still raging. Right from the outset the centre's main remit was to provide psychosocial support and medical care. Women suffering from wartime traumas, together with their children, are given short and medium-term assistance by specially trained female Bosnian experts.

Long-term support is enormously important, as the traumatic consequences of these women's wartime experiences still shape their lives today. Moreover, the current situation in post-war Bosnia still does not offer them positive prospects. The country suffers from oppressive levels of unemployment and everyday violence against women is increasing. A growing number of women and girls who have suffered violence in the home or in public are turning to the therapy centre.

Over 80 female Bosnian experts are currently working in Medica Zenica, which now owns two houses in Zenica and a counselling office in Visoko, 40 km away. Women doctors, nurses and therapists offer inpatient and outpatient assistance. The project also encompasses a training programme, a documentation and information centre, the "Infoteka", the gynaecological outpatient unit Marta I and the residential project Medica II. To make it easier for women and girls to contact the centre an emergency hotline has also been set up in response to the increasing number of cases of incest and violence, both in the family and more generally.

Medica Zenica has its own website.

 

The Louis Leitz Stiftung has decided in 2001 – immediately after formation – to support the training centre Medica2 in Zenica to assure this exemplary project. It is a foundation for public utility in the range of education, professional training and employment for people affected by disadvantage.