The war in Yugoslavia and the breakup of the region into seven new nations was deeply destabilizing and had severe consequences at several levels. On the one hand, it did not resolve the enormous trauma suffered by the population, and in particular women, who had faced rape as a weapon of war. On the other, their identity was torn apart and a new identity, one closed and cracked, was being built.
Yet this denial of the trauma, alongside the construction of murderous nationalist identities combined with a system in which the interests of justice were sacrificed for political interests, led to an incredibly positive reappropriation of the voice of women.
With the end of the war, women in the region rapidly began to work together concerning this shared trauma.Their efforts took place on two levels:
on one hand, calling into question these new identities intended to divide them;
on the other, fighting the tendency to forget the atrocities committed during the war.
The women's associations in the Balkan region first organized themselves at the local level to accompany survivors and take charge of their healing process. In a second step, they met together to develop a regional strategy and set up a feminist approach to justice for the entire region.
Lastly, nine women's associations from seven countries succeeded in creating the Women's Court, which was convened in Sarajevo in 2015. The MWF accompanied them throughout the organization process and funded the travel of participants.
The goal of the Women's Court was to:
judge the perpetrators of war crimes involving a symbolic trial;
collect testimonies of all kinds of violence, in times of war and peace, from surviving victims in the seven countries, to legitimize their voices and demonstrate the persistence of injustice that continues to bridge the war and the post-war era.
Balkan women finally succeeded in creating an autonomous network of women based on mutual support, solidarity and the strengthening of a real women's movement which had been shattered during the war.Together, they are continuing to work for official recognition for the victims.
In parallel, several educational activities have been set up, including seminars, training programs, artistic events and regional discussion meetings.
Over 40 women's courts have since been held around the world. Recognized as important tools for the empowerment of women, the first casualties of war, they have enabled women to be at the forefront in the creation of alternative and fair legal practices as well as defending justice to achieve lasting peace.
