Between Recognition and Oblivion: Victims of Sexual Violence and Torture

Abstract

The last building-block empirical chapter of the book discusses the cases of victims of sexual violence and torture. It contrasts and compares the different types of victim capital of these two groups and demonstrates how it resulted in varied changes in recognition and redress. While victims of sexual violence were recognized in the larger Bosnian entity in 2006, victims of torture remain unrecognized until today. In Republika Srpska, recognition came only in 2018. The gradual increase in women’s international salience and mobilization resources prior to 2006 combined with the rise of their moral authority explains the change in 2006. In contrast, victims of torture have leveraged their existing connections and organizational skills while their domestic authority and external salience fluctuated. The success of survivors of sexual violence in FBiH illustrates the ‘Activist Route’ while the partial success of victims of torture and sexual violence in RS conforms to the ‘Domestic Pressure’ scenario—however, in an increasingly closed political system. This chapter pays special attention to legal activism of both victim groups as well as the latest developments in access to redress.