In from the Margins: Survivors of Wartime Sexual Violence in Croatia and an Early Analysis of the New Law

Abstract

Survivors of wartime sexual violence are seldom a priority in post-conflict societies and Croatia is no exception. For the last 20 years, those who suffered sexual violence during the war in the early 1990s have received little care or attention. In May 2015, however, the Croatian parliament adopted the Law on the Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence during the Armed Aggression against the Republic of Croatia in the Homeland War. This Law provides survivors of wartime sexual violence with a comprehensive range of rights, from compensation and health insurance to psychosocial assistance and legal support. The recentness of the Law means that it is too soon to know how it will work in practice. This article, however, offers an early analysis of the Law, identifying both its major strengths and some of its more problematic elements. It draws upon the author's fieldwork in Zagreb during the summer of 2015, as well as her extensive work over a 12-month period with survivors of wartime sexual violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Emphasizing the importance of follow-up research on the Law, the article concludes by outlining a threefold approach for analysing the Law's implementation.