Dizzy

  • What Happened
    • Survivor Stories
    • History & Analysis
    • External Resources
    • Our Impact: Stories behind the Statistics
  • Our Work
    • About Us
      • The Charity
      • Staff
      • Regional & Country Boards
      • Academic Advisory Board
      • President and Patrons
      • APPG on Srebrenica
      • Contact Us
    • Memorial Events
      • Resources and Registration for Event Organisers
      • Past Memorial Events
        • National
        • Local
    • Education
    • Lessons from Srebrenica
    • Supporting Community Action
    • Latest News
    • Videos
    • Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ
  • What You Can Do
    • Resources for Event Organisers
    • Educate
    • We Are One Tournament
    • Build Better Communities
    • Share your Stories
    • Visit Srebrenica
      • Our Visits Programme
      • Bearing Witness
    • Donate
      • Support our work Scotland
      • International Srebrenica Memorial Learning Centre
    • Jobs
  • Our Impact
    • Messages of Support
    • Download Annual Report
    • People Taking Action
    • In The Media
    • Inspiration – Music, Poems and Prayers
    • Memorial Day Reflections
Home Primary Information Building Partnerships Across Boundaries

Building Partnerships Across Boundaries

How Remembering Srebrenica established a special partnership with Rape Crisis England & Wales to bring our theme of 'Breaking the Silence: Gender and Genocide' to communities in the UK.

At the beginning of 2017, Remembering Srebrenica established a partnership with Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW), as a way of bringing our theme of ‘Breaking the Silence: Gender and Genocide’ to communities in the UK. With the particular aim of looking into how women experienced genocide, we focused on sharing women’s narratives of the unfolding horrors of war that rampaged throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In the early 1990s, sexual violence and rape were used as weapons of war against women – and indeed some men – of all nationalities and ethnicities in Bosnia. However, the UN Security Council, recognised that it was overwhelmingly affecting the Bosnian Muslim women, as Serb forces were using rape as a key component of their genocidal strategy to ethnically cleanse the country, and establish a Greater Serbia.

Rape as a military strategy in Bosnia and rape in peacetime have some important contextual specificities and differences, but in both cases the discrimination and dehumanisation of women through subjugation, domination and aggression, is at the heart of this crime. The prevalence of rape in the UK and the increasing demand on services such as those being offered by Rape Crisis, means that it is more important than ever to create bonds of solidarity, and share methods and mechanisms of empowering and rehabilitating survivors, and preventing perpetrators.

Di Whitfield, co-Chair of RCEW, expressed the importance of the collaboration with Remembering Srebrenica saying:

“we cannot truly stand up to hatred unless we stand up to misogyny in our society.”

By explicitly recognising misogyny and gender-based violence as a form of hatred Remembering Srebrenica brought the theme of ‘Gender and Genocide’ into action through leading an all-women delegation to Srebrenica to learn from Bosnian women first-hand, and understand how the genocide in Bosnia was ordered along gendered lines. This visit brought together of women from all backgrounds, faiths and ages to work together to instil the lessons from Srebrenica into communities in the UK.

On return from the delegation, a coordinated online action for the 11th of July was instigated by the board of Trustees at RCEW. The aim was to raise awareness through social media, sending out a message to women in the UK, Bosnia, and elsewhere, and this was achieved by sharing survivor stories, and incorporating an act of remembrance into commemorations, with the purpose, not only or raising awareness of the atrocities that took place in Srebrenica, but also to break the silence and stigma that surrounds sexual violence.

This action saw 17 centres across the UK participate and forge links to the cause. The emotional connection was a profound element of the engagement from Rape Crisis, with one of the Centres explaining the poignance of remembering the genocide and the struggles of Bosnian women in a space where they endeavoured to empower and rehabilitate survivors of sexual violence. Another counsellor from a different centre expressed that it was emotionally unifying for herself and colleagues, as feminist solidarity crosses borders and language barriers.

Earlier this month, Jane Gregory, one of the Trustees from RCEW organised for Bakira Hasečić, survivor and president of the Association for Women Victims of War, and Dr Branka Antić Štauber, holistic trauma-rehabilitation expert and founder of the NGO Snaga Žene (The Strength of Women), to address their national conference and speak of their experiences of survival and healing. Hundreds of women heard their messages and were impacted by their courage and innovative methods of supporting survivors. This exchange also meant that Dr Branka and Bakira had the opportunity to learn of the challenges and obstacles to justice that women face in the UK. This included the fact that only 5.7% of reported rape cases end in a conviction, and the challenges that are experienced by women who face disbelief and mistrust when disclosing their traumatic experiences.

This conference served to cement not only the collaboration between both charities, but also of Bosnian and UK women. Jane from RCEW expressed the importance of the relationship saying

“…This isn’t just us doing something for Bosnian women, it is because Bosnian women have things to share with us from which we can learn. We struggle with the justice system; listening to them and how they pursue justice is so important.”

We look forward to facilitating and sustaining what promises to be an ongoing project of collaboration and support.

Nov 16, 2017Amil Khan
MAKE A DONATION
Remembering Srebrenica remains committed to honouring the victims and survivors of the genocide.

SUPPORT US
SUPPORT US & PLEDGE
Make a difference, support our charity and all those affected by the tragic Genocide of Srebrenica. Pledge for our cause now.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
Remembering Srebrenica newsletter allows you to keep up to date with latest news, events and how you can support us.

SIGN UP
November 16, 2017 Information, News
Future EventsRemembering Srebrenica teams up with NHS for debut Symposium
  You Might Also Like  
 
Remembering Srebrenica Comments on Events at the ICTY
 
July – September 2015
 
The role of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
 Search 

Remembering SrebrenicaFollow

Remembering Srebrenica
SrebrenicaUKRemembering Srebrenica@SrebrenicaUK·
2h

We were honoured to have Fikret Alić speak about his experience of surviving the death camp of Omarska at our National Commemoration. This shocking photo continues to haunt the world & serves as a reminder of what happens when we turn our back on humanity. https://t.co/BCfEexbNXS

1651Twitter
SrebrenicaUKRemembering Srebrenica@SrebrenicaUK·
24h

Join us on March 11th as we mark #InternationalWomensDay with a discussion on gender and genocide; throughout and post-conflict. We'll be joined by experts and survivors in what will be an insightful discussion. Save the date now. We'll be sharing more info shortly!

1535Twitter
Remembering Srebrenica Retweeted
OsborneTweetsPeter Osborne@OsborneTweets·
5 Mar

Two evenings that I believe will be fascinating - 29th and 30th March at 7pm. On-line unfortunately but then again if not we might not hear from Srebrenica survivor @NedzadAvdic direct from Bosnia - register by emailing goodrelations@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk

723Twitter
SrebrenicaUKRemembering Srebrenica@SrebrenicaUK·
5 Mar

Memorials In Bosnia Important Part In Remembering And Recognizing The Country’s History – The Organization for World Peace https://t.co/NxqcdoKZHJ

620Twitter
Remembering Srebrenica Retweeted
AbiCarterCSIAbi Carter@AbiCarterCSI·
4 Mar

I have read a lot of these books mentioned below and I received 'The Last Refuge' by @nuhanovic_hasan in the post today so I urge anyone who is interested in knowing more about the genocides in Bosnia to read some of these books. #worldbookday2021 #genocide @SrebrenicaWales https://t.co/4WmnAShTsZ

311Twitter
Load More...
 The charity 
A Project of Ummah Help. Registered charity no. 1142686. Registered company no. 7369796. Click here to find out more.
 Latest news 
Remembering Srebrenica’s 2021 Theme: Rebuilding Lives
February 4, 2021

Every year, Remembering Srebrenica selects a theme that reflects an aspect of the genocide that must be commemorated, but also speaks to communities here in the UK.  The theme for 2021 is ‘Rebuilding Lives’.  In albeit very different ways the Covid pandemic has brought loss and difficulties to millions, shattering individuals and communities, who are […]

Hatidža Mehmedović – A mother’s legacy
November 26, 2020

Hatidža Mehmedović was born in the area surrounding Srebrenica in 1952. Before the genocide, she lived her entire life in Srebrenica, where she had married her childhood friend, Abdullah, and had two sons, Azmir and Almir. Hatidža and Abdullah built their home in Srebrenica and lived a simple life as a family before the war […]

“Untold Killing”: first serialised podcast about the genocide in Bosnia launched
October 22, 2020

London, United Kingdom — This past July marked 25 years since the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as the worst atrocity on Europe’s soil since the Holocaust. The story of Srebrenica, a small town in Bosnia, remains a dark stain on Europe’s history and yet the full details remain unknown to many.  […]

 Remembering Srebrenica 

What happened
Survivor Stories
Memorial Day
Vistiting Srebrenica

 Site Links 

Homepage
Get Involved
Resources
News
Messages of support
About us
Get in contact
Sitemap

GET IN CONTACT

If you want to get involved with Remembering Srebrenica, or find out how you can help then please get in contact

SEND US AN EMAIL


2019 © Remembering Srebrenica. Privacy Policy
Website developed by Spyre Media