For a full 25 years, the United Women Foundation from Banja Luka has been working to improve the social position of women and their right to life without violence. Among other things, during this period, the Safe House in Banja Luka was established, an SOS hotline, as well as the Fund for Economic Empowerment of Women.
By: Nataša Todoranović; Photo: Slaven Miletić
They help women of all ages, nationalities, social and educational status, without discrimination on any grounds, with the aim of protecting women’s human rights in practice.
“More than 9,000 women and children, victims of domestic violence, received support through our legal counseling, and we cooperate with more than 20 civil society organizations operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the region. We opened the safe house in 2007, in which 786 women and children received professional help and support”, said Nada Golubović, President of the Foundation.
The SOS phone rings three to four times a day, which is more than 1000 calls a year. In the 23 years of the line’s existence, they have received 23,000 calls related to cases of domestic violence. More than 5,000 representatives of public institutions participated in their trainings and improved their capacity to provide assistance and support to victims of gender-based violence.
Of all the interesting projects in the recent past, they singled out the Orange Day in October, in which judo athlete Vanja Mandić demonstrated various self-defense techniques derived from the martial art of Krav Maga, after which they discussed violence against women and possible forms of protection and self-defense.
Orange Day is marked every 25th of the month, with the aim of drawing attention to this great social problem and raising awareness about creating zero tolerance for violence.
“A big problem that was strongly present 25 years ago, when we started working, is still relevant today, and that is not reporting violence due to fear, shame or some third reason. Although we think that the time when a woman suffered violence and got used to such a life is long gone, unfortunately, we still have such cases. Then the problem of chain acceptance of violence arises because a son who grew up in a family in which the father is an alcoholic who abuses his mother, very often grows into the same person. The daughter who watched and experienced that violence, very likely becomes a woman who will also be a domestic violence victim. Those children grow up thinking that such a relationship is normal and that it is something that should be accepted”, says Nada Golubović.
“United Women” calls young girls and women to protect themselves by paying attention to their partner’s behavior before real verbal and physical violence occurs.
“The fact that a guy is defending you from going out with your friends is just one example of how violence starts. Ordering, his management of your life, decisions and actions, insults – these are just some of the ways of manipulating women that lead to something much worse. There are more and more such cases among couples and that is why we want to send a clear message to all young girls in order to react properly to such actions”, says Nada for eTrafika.
The main and basic vision of this Foundation is a woman who is aware of her power, equal, respected, employed and happy. The United Women has been fighting for this vision for 25 years.
The development of this text was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the PRO-Future project. The contents of this text do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the US Government.
Source: eTrafika
