Their professional and human approach to the survivor often determines the future steps, both by the woman who reported the violence, and other relevant institutions. Seeking to achieve a harmonized police response across BiH and contribute to the protection of the rights of survivors, UN Women BiH with the support of Sweden has been supporting ministries of the interior since 2019, by developing training curricula and modules. This opens the path for police institutions to take care of training and sensitizing their officers on topics of domestic violence and gender-based violence independently in the future. So far, one hundred police officers have taken part in the training and acquired the skills for an appropriate response to reported cases of domestic violence. In addition to supporting them to better understand their duties, the training introduced a range of teaching resources and educational references enabling these police officers to share their knowledge with other colleagues in the future. This approach ensures a long-term resource, as police officers are trained in line with standardized methodology and regulations and international standards, says Nina Karađinović, Project Coordinator with Lucid Linx, implementing the UN Women’s project. “Using the Manual for Training of Police Officers on Response to Cases of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women, the trainers are fully prepared to replicate the training in the forthcoming period, with periodic updates reflecting changes in the legislation and developments in practice.”                                                                                                                                      Nina Karađinović Survivors who approach the police are seeking protection from the system and expect to receive help and support. This signals there is a certain level of trust, which must not be betrayed in any way. If the survivor does not receive the support she needs during the first contact, her trust in the system decreases, says Ms. Karađinović. “This can discourage the survivor in question and other survivors from reporting violence and refusing to testify, which is of immense importance in the criminal proceedings.” Non-governmental organizations in BiH who have been working with survivors at community level reinforce the argument for strengthening capacities in this area. These organizations frequently observe that persons exposed to domestic violence are reluctant to seek help from institutions which are supposed to protect them, in particular the police. This can be attributed to negative experience most survivors have had with the response of police officers, explains Jasna Zečević, the president of Vive Žene, the association advocating for a better status of women survivors of violence since 1994 in the Tuzla Canton* and across BiH. “Even though the legal framework in BiH clearly defines the roles of the police, many questions remain about the support and assistance to victims of gender-based violence, in particular domestic violence.”                                                                                                                                        Jasna Zečević From lack of understanding towards responsiveness and standardized approach Training covers, in addition to numerous important segments such as provision of immediate protection, implementation of protective measures and vulnerability risk assessment of the survivor, sensitization of the police officers on equality and challenges traditional gender roles. The experience so far showed that even the trainees who show no consideration for survivors at the beginning of the training, by the end of the program show greater responsiveness and consistency in ensuring that all reported cases of violence are followed with a request for a protective measure. In the interest of a coherent and adequate knowledge transfer, it is important to engage trainers whom police officers trust. That is why the program includes professionals with many years of experience in working on domestic violence cases and cases of violence against women, as well as in investigating this type of crime, its causes, and consequences. One of the regular trainers is Goran Telalović, a retired officer with 20 years of experience as both an officer and a commander. He spent the last seven years of active service as a head of the Education Section in the Ministry of the Interior of the Zenica-Doboj Canton.* Legal amendments which were necessary to comply with the Istanbul Convention brought many changes. Therefore, says Telalović, training of the police force is particularly important. “Laws get adopted, published in official gazette- and some read them and others do not. We in the Balkans have this tendency to self-assess the strengths and weaknesses of the law, which provision should be applied or not, and we make these choices at our own discretion. A person who interprets the law in such manner transfers the knowledge wrongfully to his/hers new colleague. There were many novelties introduced by the Istanbul Convention, requirements became stricter in relation to domestic violence situations, and we came to realize that things were not functioning properly.” One of the indicators of the effectiveness of this type of training are the results of anonymous pre- and post- training tests, which demonstrate multiple improvements in the levels of knowledge in respective fields, in particular those pertaining to survivor-sensitive approach and vulnerability assessment. Progress also seen in the field Time and additional studies are required to reach definitive conclusions about the positive impact of the training of police officers in the field and increase of survivors’ trust in the police. However, some impact of the training and more consistent application of regulations are already visible. “We see this impact in increased number of reports of domestic violence and violence against women, as well as in considerable increase in requests for protective measures”, says Nina Karađinović. Association Vive Žene also confirms visible results of the work with police officers. They often collaborate with the police within their activities, and the trainings and promotional campaigns supported by the European Union and UN Women on enhancing procedures in domestic violence cases have made significant impact. One of them is reflected in the fact that in 2021 number of requests for protective measures filled by police officers per reported cases increased to 59%, from only 20% three years ago. The training of police officers in BiH will continue, and the plan is to ensure at least fifty additional police officers trained. Integration of modules on response to cases of domestic violence and violence against women in the regular curriculum for cadets of the Police Academy in Sarajevo will be another major step. This will be an opportunity for young police officers to learn about the importance of their role in supporting the survivors from the very start of their careers in the force. *The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of ten cantons.

He is among the first religious leaders in BiH who joined the program on education and empowerment of imams, priests and religion teachers to recognize and fight domestic violence in their local communities. I had no dilemma. I was always open on this issue, and I know every religion will help when it comes to any form of violence. No religion will preach to harm or spite another person. Working with people means everything to me, and I see my job as some sort of a mission. I have been doing this for 23 years, and I am in touch with people from the community 24 hours a day. I am available to them at any time – for a birth of a child, wedding, death, or any problem they might have. Sometimes that problem is domestic violence. Before the seminars I attended, the biggest challenge was to recognize the problem. I did not know some forms of violence constitute violence, but now I am learning and realizing that some seemingly “banal” things can lead to problems in one’s life. Unfortunately, today the public perceives that religious communities should not get involved in the issue of domestic violence because we are not competent. Maybe we aren’t competent sometimes, maybe we don’t have ways to help, but we are learning. I believe that religious communities have the capacity to be available and help organizations who are working on these issues more concretely. I believe these two things are inseparable. Selmir Hurić, imam at the majlis of Islamic Community of Sanski Most, is one of the participants of the educational program for religious leaders in BiH, implemented by Institute for Population and Development from Sarajevo and Peacebuilding Center from Sanski Most, with the financial support of Sweden and in cooperation with UN Women BiH. Hurić and dozens of imams, priests and religion teachers learned how to recognize and properly address cases of domestic violence happening in their local communities. The participants of the program also developed manuals for prevention and response to violence with an array of recommendations on how to include prevention of violence in various areas of religious activities, such as lectures in places of worship or religion classes in school, and in this way contribute to quality education and strengthening gender equality.

Since 1998, she has lead the organization, which provides safety to women and girls exposed to different types of violence, including safe house accommodation, legal aid, and psycho-social support. Lara’s SOS phone rings 700 times a year, they receive around 100 online reports, and around 500 women visit their office. With the support of UN Women, Foundation Lara has intensified its advocacy efforts to change the criminal laws dealing with sexual violence with one critically important goal – to define rape as a sexual act without consent. One of the areas Foundation Lara works in is the legislative framework concerning sexual violence. How well are laws concerning and defining sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina harmonized with the Istanbul Convention? If we look at criminal offences and proceedings, the harmonization of the local criminal justice framework with the Istanbul Convention is underway. All of our criminal laws have special provisions concerning acts against sexual integrity, i.e. sexual freedom and moral, and most of the acts of violence that fall within the scope of the Convention are already integrated in our criminal laws. However, the Istanbul Convention deals with gender-based violence from the aspect of protection and support, prevention and (public) policies, and this is where we see space to intervene. No legislation is available for everything that comes next concerning supporting and helping the survivors and various systems that need to react in these cases. Also, the laws don’t recognize gender-based violence as a special societal phenomenon. Which legal provisions are currently most problematic and which changes are most urgent for women and girls to receive adequate legal protection? It is not simple to determine priorities, but we decided that the starting point of advocacy for legal changes should be the harmonization of the definition of the criminal act of rape with the Istanbul Convention. This would mean that the existing definition would be broadened to include not only acts of sexual violence conducted with the use of force or previous threat, but also sexual acts without consent and the willingness of the victim. We believe this amendment would lead to a change in awareness among the legal and judicial community and the criminal justice sector, and that it is the breaking point to change behaviours. This is important because our society doesn’t talk about sexual violence. That is why we are focusing on what we think is important: to, for starters, break the strong taboos associated with sexual violence. Survivors are stigmatized, and criminal justice protection for them often represents a process with additional trauma. They often feel like what they experience during the trials is harder than the act of rape itself.    When it comes to rape, statistics in Bosnia and Herzegovina show that the survivors rarely contact the police. Why is that? We are currently analysing 80 verdicts for the criminal acts of rape, and we see that there are not many “classic” acts of rape: when an adult woman reports an adult man as the perpetrator. Usually, these are criminal acts against a defenceless person, children, or women who are older than 60 or 70. These are women past their sexual prime, who couldn’t possibly be labelled as the ones that provoked the rape, and they don’t have the feeling of fear and shame from the trial. There is a very small number of women aged 18 to 50 who report rape, unless the consequences of the act required medical assistance. Women either fear the perpetrators or are simply not ready to go through everything that awaits them during the trial. Unfortunately, in our system, when a rape survivor who reports the crime leaves the police precinct, she is alone, she is not protected, and she doesn’t have any rights. You work a lot with decision-makers with the goal to expedite legal changes. How ready are they to accept your suggestions and take concrete actions to make them true? Communication with decision-makers on parliament and ministry levels is good. Most of them understand that there is a harmonization process, they understand the need to enhance the legislative framework, they mostly even understand the problem we are discussing here. The true barrier is the behaviour and reaction of those who will implement the laws. Essentially, the judicial and legal community and those close to it, including the police, are resisting the changes because they believe that, for example, change in the definition of rape will lead to it being difficult to prove. Unfortunately, their influence on lawmakers is often crucial. How important is it for civil society organizations working on women’s rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina to mutually lobby for legislative changes, and is that currently happening? Most of the organizations focused on women’s rights see these changes as an integral part of their engagement. We already have an established cooperation within the Safe Network, consisting of seven organizations that head safe houses. Everyone knows very well what sexual violence is because we help the survivors. At the beginning of 2021, we created a series of infographics and invited our colleagues from various organizations to support the campaign to enhance the response to sexual violence, and everyone supported it. This autumn, when we embark on the intense phase of the campaign, I believe that this cooperation will be even better.

A consortium consisting of the German GIZ, UNDP and the ILO implemented a private sector development project, “EU4Business” in Bosnia and Herzegovina funded by the European Union and Germany. The ILO contribution focused on assistance to start-ups as a means to job creation. The four-year project recently came to an end – time to take stock of what the ILO achieved. The key achievement of the ILO component was to support the establishment of 123 new businesses. The new enterprise created so far 145 new jobs. ILO’s most important inputs were entrepreneurship training, grants for the best business plans, and complementary mentorship. A few selected profiles of young start ups illustrate the talent of the start up scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the new businesses supported through EU4Busines is Šapa Lab Furniture from Sarajevo, a new business specialized in producing accessories for pets established in 2020. “The idea for my business emerged during COVID19 when I had the time to design furniture and accessories for pets that would be something new on the market. Without this project and mentors who helped me, my idea would have never translated into a viable business plan”, said Alma Subašić, 28-year-old owner of Šapa Lab Furniture. “The moment I learnt that I received a grant and technical support, I knew there was no going back. We had to turn this idea into reality.” Alma’s new business started well and currently engages five associates: product designer, carpenters, and tailors. Aleksandar Kovač, a student at the Faculty of Medicine in Banja Luka, is also among the beneficiaries of EU4Business. Combining his area of education and opportunities for new online services, Aleksandar launched the online platform “e-Clinic”. “The platform simplifies the way patients book appointments and provides all relevant information in one place, as well as makes easier record keeping”, said Aleksandar. Being at it’s very beginning, E-Clinic platform is currently used by eight health institutions who pay monthly fee, making it free of charge for patients. Aleksandar plans to expand number of end users by introducing Android and iOS versions of the platform in 2023. “For me, the EU4Business project and ILO’s support was a turning point in terms of entrepreneurship. With top mentors, I have learned the key requirements to keep a business afloat and successful”, he pointed out. The success of the EU4Business project is even greater considering the challenges that businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina faced during the pandemic. “I would like to remind that all our beneficiaries have started their businesses in a very unfavorable socio-economic situation, in 2020 when the world was hit by the COVID19 pandemic, and yet they have not only survived but have continued to grow and create jobs. Today, many of them are not only self-employed, but are employers creating job opportunities for others”, said Lejla Tanović, National Coordinator of the ILO in BiH. About the project: EU4Business is EUR 16,1 million worth project supported by the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany and jointly implemented by GIZ, ILO and UNDP from 2018 to 2022. The project aimed to strengthen the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and advance perspectives for stronger exports and new employment. In total, more than 900 new jobs were created through this project.