Medica Zenica, Bosnia

More than fifteen years have passed since the first publication of reports on mass rape of Bosnian women. Several thousand women have been systematically raped, tortured and detained in camps by Serbian soldiers during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina – some of them for weeks. Women of all ages became part of the malicious warfare strategy, serving the demoralisation of the enemy and the ethnic expulsion within the territories claimed by the Serbs. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), there were 20,000 cases of rape. Other sources estimate up to 50,000 cases.

While for a long time international aid organisations remained inactive in view of the atrocities committed against women, the Cologne based gynaecologist Monika Hauser, together with approximately 20 female psychologists and practitioners from Bosnia, fought for the rights of women and their children who became victims of trauma while the war was still going on. In a joint effort, they founded the women’s therapy centre Medica Zenica in the central Bosnian City of Zenica in spring 1993. Since then, there has been specific support and assistance for women and girls who have experienced violence: Gynaecological care, psychosocial counselling and legal assistance are still the main elements of the support programme. By now, Medica Zenica is known throughout the country as an important women’s rights organisation. As a consequence of the commitment for women in Bosnia, medica mondiale e.V. was founded in the following years, based in Cologne. Both the German and Bosnian organisation continue to co-operate closely as sister organisations.

In Bosnia, there was a strong need for commitment of Medica Zenica. Women and girls who came to the organisation’s centre were severely traumatised by rape, the loss of family members and other horrifying experiences made during war. They suffered from nightmares, panic attacks and physical pains. Feelings of shame and the taboo of rape made it more complicated for women to overcome the traumatic experience. Instead of protection and support, many women experienced social exclusion and discrimination. In the beginning, it was not an easy task to work with women whose lives had been affected by violence and it took a long-term and persistent commitment to succeed.

In the past years, thousands of raped women given primary medical care, gynaecological treatment and psychological counselling in the women’s therapy centre of Medica Zenica. From 1993 to 2007, more then 900 women and 650 children temporarily stayed at the women’s therapy centre, participated in mother-and-child workshops and received financial support. The entire staff – female doctors, nurses, and therapists as well as chefs and cleaning ladies – received specific training to provide trauma-sensitive care for female patients. This helped to create a safe haven for women, allowing them to recover and regain new strength for their future. More than 600 women learned a profession: Medica Zenica financed vocational training courses for hairdressers, seamstresses and machine knitters. English language workshops and computer training courses were also offered. By participating in these courses, women did not only regain confidence in their abilities, but they also made plans for the future and were able to make a living.

Even today, 15 years after the end of the war, women continue to seek assistance in the therapy centre. Several hundred women are treated in the centre every year. Some of them only now find the courage to ask for help and assistance. Others re-experience panic attacks because they have decided to testify as a witness or because they have seen their tormentor in the street. When returning to their home towns or former workplaces, many women are being haunted by the images of their past. Women who gave birth to a child as a result of rape will be reminded of the traumatic experience leading to the unwanted pregnancy for the rest of their lives. Children born of rape also need support and assistance. In 2007, 53 women and children stayed in the centre and 230 women participated in 900 sessions of psychosocial therapy.

Today however, most women seek help with Medica Zenica because they experience violence in their families or in the public society. The situation in today’s post-war Bosnia – marked by poverty, high unemployment and broken families – has lead to a sharp increase of violence in society. Medica Zenica took action in view of this situation and set up an emergency hotline: From 1998 to 2007, more than 1,600 calls were registered. All these aspects show how important it is to guarantee long-term support for women and girls in Bosnia. Since 2007, an additional help and information centre of Medica Zenica has been set up on the premises of the public social services department. Women may enter the centre through a separate entrance.

By now, Medica Zenica has to cope with financial difficulties. Other crises have long taken centre stage in media coverage, financial donations from abroad are on the decline and public funding does not exist. Two of the former three project centres had to be closed down in 2007. In the past, up to 80 Bosnian doctors, nurses and therapists worked for Medica Zenica. Today, the number has been reduced to 27.

Only half of the staff working with Medica Zenica has a full-time job and a secure existence. Every year, members of Medica Zenica struggle to be able to continue their work. Since January 2008, the 13 women of the psychological counselling team had to work without receiving a salary: Conditions that jeopardize the continued therapeutic counselling work.

Medica Zenica places its hope on a new legislation that stipulates an increased co-operation between public social institutions and organisations of the civil society to combat the increasing violence against women and within families. Medica Zenica hopes that the new legislation will also be of benefit for the women’s shelter and the psychosocial counselling work.