Consequences of war-time sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina: discourses about the children born of rape in ethnically divided society
Abstract
The main subject of the study is media discourse of children born of rape during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992-1995. Acts of rape are considered to be part of the war tactics of major rivals (Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Army of Republika Srpska, and Croatian Defence Council) and paramilitary units.
Forced insemination and disallowance of abortions was carried out as an accompanying factor of ethnic cleansing. The children born to the raped women are subjected to social stigmatization based on their origin.
The idea of inheritance of ethnic identity in patriarchal lineage plays significant role in the construction process of their individual identity. The way in which the children born of war are depicted and perceived affects various aspects of their lives.
The main objective of the research was to pursue a public discourse about the children born to the raped women, first through an analysis of the media, which significantly contribute to the image of these children, and second, with the contribution of interviews conducted during the field research in 2018.