Seeking Recognition for ‘Invisible Children’ Born of Sexual Violence in Bosnia, Croatia Wars
A new handbook published on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict seeks to spur recognition of the children born of conflict-related sexual violence during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and to secure their rights.
It has been a long and painful journey for survivors of wartime sexual violence in the former Yugoslavia to secure a degree of legal recognition and protection, but children born of such violence remain, to this day, largely invisible.
“Despite more than three decades having passed since the end of the war in Croatia, children born as a consequence of the war have not been recognised within the legislative framework and remain excluded from public policies concerning civilian victims of war,” said Iris Knezevic, executive director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Croatia and one of the individuals behind a groundbreaking handbook designed to raise awareness about their plight.
The identities of children born of conflict-related sexual violence, or CRSV, are intrinsically linked to the commission of a crime. Yet they themselves are often not recognised under the law as its direct victims.
Such an approach is inconsistent with evolving standards of international law, which increasingly recognise this category as people entitled to protection, support and reparations, experts say.
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