A case study from Bosnia and Herzegovina

A case study from Bosnia and Herzegovina

a
case study
from
bosnia and
herzegovina
Keywords: repeated harassment; threats of violence; physical harm; emotional
harm; mobile phone; abuser is known; reported to law enforcement; investigation
initiated; arrest made; reported to provider; provider deems no action necessary;
survivor’s age is 18-30
The story and the violence
Thirty-year-old Rebecca hails from a city in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, where she works in a fashion mall.
Rebecca was in a serious relationship with her partner
Sam for nearly three years, during which time he was
aggressive and violent towards her. Finally she left the
relationship, but Sam refused to “accept” her decision.
He began following her to work, hanging around outside her house, and visiting the same clubs and cafes
she would go out to. He became her stalker. He also
began sending threatening messages to her mobile
phone, which escalated when Rebecca started dating a new man named Daniel. Sam would send violent
threats to both Daniel and Rebecca on a regular basis,
and for a period of one month, messages arrived almost continuously to either one of their mobile phones.
For Rebecca, this constant barrage of threats caused
her deep psychological harm, and she began to feel
constant fear both inside and outside her house.
Seeking justice
After suffering this violence and fear for some
months, Rebecca and Daniel went to the police station with a collection of the messages they had received on their mobile phones. Even after seeing the
content of the messages, the police did not take any
immediate action. Rebecca and Daniel both called
their phone provider at least three times each; however, the response of the provider was that since the
perpetrator kept changing his mobile phone number, they could not track him down. In Bosnia and
Herzegovina it is possible to buy a cheap SIM card
without registering your name or any other kind of
personal information, which means that people can
change their mobile numbers as often as they want.
One day Sam finally lived up to the “promises” he kept
making through text messages, and beat Rebecca up.
The next day, the police arrested him. The arrest was
not made on the basis of the harassment she had faced
over the course of months, but for the single incident of
violent behaviour. The prosecutor recommended keeping Sam in custody for one month out of fear that he
would repeat the violence. The case is still ongoing.
This case summary is based on in-depth case studies mapping
women’s experiences of technology-related VAW and their attempts
to access justice either through domestic legal remedy or corporate
grievance mechanisms. The original case studies from Bosnia and
Herzegovina were documented by country researchers from the
project partner OneWorldSEE between November 2013 and April
2014 and the summaries were prepared by Richa Kaul Padte.
This research is part of the APC “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project funded by the Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) and is based on a strong alliance with partners in seven countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines.