Women in Western Balkans: rights and fights - SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE - Heinrich-Böll ...
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Issue No 8
October 2020
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
women in
Western Balkans:
rights and fights
ZAGREB
BEOGRAD
SARAJEVO
Skopje
TiranA
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Fostering democracy and upholding human rights, taking action to prevent the
destruction of the global ecosystem, advancing equality between women and men,
securing peace through conflict prevention in crisis zones, and defending the freedom of
individuals against excessive state and economic power – these are the objectives that
drive the ideas and actions of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. We maintain close ties to
the German Green Party (Alliance 90/The Greens) and as a think tank for green visions
and projects, we are part of an international network encompassing well over 100
partner projects in approximately 60 countries.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation works independently and nurtures a spirit of intellectual
openness. We maintain a worldwide network with currently 30 international offices.
Our work in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia concentrates
on the democratization process, political education, and environmental protection
and sustainable development. We support and open public fora about topical and
marginalized social-political issues and we enable networking of local and international
actors close to the Green values.
contents
introduction
2 system patriarchy - from A for abuse to V for violence
Marion Kraske
5 standby mode
Lejla Gačanica
state of play
9 ‘naming the possible, responding to the impossible’: beyond gender normative politics
Jelisaveta Blagojević, Mirjana Stošić
13 how tradition and patriarchy impact violence against women in the Western Balkans
Ermira Danaj
18 an inside look – gender equality as a principle or a phrase?
Katarina Pavičić-Ivelja
gender in transitions: revolution is female?
23 the (un)forgotten possibility of emancipation
Vera Katz
29 women’s invisibility as punishment: gender, war and transition in and after Yugoslavia
Svetlana Slapšak
34 conquering the space of freedom: a never-ending story?
Slavenka Drakulić
38 the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in the Western Balkans
Marija Bashevska
intervention
44 feminism: a universal panacea?
Nadežda Čačinovič
47 interplay between nationalism and exploitation, producing poverty to stay in power
Katarina Peović
51 here to stay – political participation of women in the Western Balkan
Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović
56 violence against women in politics
Ana Radičević
resistance
60 making femicide visible
Vedrana Lacmanović
66 unequal even before being born: sex-selective abortions in Montenegro
Olivera Komar
70 Kruščica in the aftermath of violence
Alma Midžić
77 property rights, economic dependence and the glass ceiling for women in Kosovo
Luljeta Demolli
81 activism in times of uncertainty: Albanian Pride 2020
Gresa Hasa
84 swimming against the current
Iva Mihajlovska
2 introduction system patriarchy
introduction
system patriarchy
from A for abuse to V for violence
Marion Kraske
The flames leaped up, emitting sparks. The image of a burning woman is
The bottom part of the figure blazed away, emblematic for the desolate situation of
it crackled, until the whole woman finally women in Bosnia and Herzegovina – and in
burst into flames. She was perfectly dressed the whole Balkan region.
up: red sweater, chestnut-coloured hair Patriarchal male circles rule in the six
– distinctive glasses. People know her, in Western Balkan states, in most cases they
Mostar. are deeply interwoven with criminal, cor-
The effigy that was set on fire during the rupt clans. Their politics is a means for their
carnival in spring 2020 had a living model: self-enrichment, for taking care of family
Martina Mlinarevic, current Ambassador members and fellow party members. Social
of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Czech factors are marginalised, good governance
Republic. Mlinarevic is also an author and approaches for the health care system or
publicist, and hated by nationalists. Appar- education institutions are nowhere to be
ently, that suffices for someone to be burned found. There is an anti-modern, anti-liberal
symbolically. climate, in which gender rights overall are
The fact that in the midst of Europe a doing very badly.
female figure, who does not measure up to After the Balkan wars in the nineties, a
the nationalist mainstream in the Herzego- momentous repatriarchisation took place
vina, claimed by the Croats, is bursting up in on the territory of the former Yugoslavia:
flames, allows conclusions to be drawn with women, so it seems, are enjoying far less
regard to the desolate political culture in the freedoms today than during Yugoslav times.
country. Somewhere else, such an act would That once there was a strong women´s
have serious consequences. At least there movement, when the partisans were fight-
would be a broad debate. About women ing European fascism and inflicted a historic
and their – non-existent – rights. Their pow- defeat on it, seems to be almost forgotten.
erlessness. The violence of the men. Such reflections regarding the engagement
But not so in Bosnia, no loud outcry of of women do not take place in the schools
civil society, the protest of women’s organi- anyway.
sations rather moderate. At least the OSCE Thus, in the most Western Balkans 6
reacted vehemently and called it an unac- countries, women have remained hope-
ceptable act. The Republic of Italy honoured lessly underrepresented in political deci-
Mlinarevic in summer 2020 as someone sion-making processes. If they nevertheless
who is upholding the value of dialogue in do speak up, if they do publicly criticise the
society and advocating women´s rights. The desolate situation, they are silenced, har-
high distinction was even presented by the assed, not rarely threatened.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella during a That those women are political actors
digital ceremony, a belated compensation who are legitimately pointing towards prob-
for the humiliation of being burned. lems – is irrelevant for the political elites
Marion Kraske, At least abroad. from Belgrade to Tirana, even if they like
Director of Heinrich Böll
Foundation Office for BiH, to mime reformers in Berlin and Bruxelles.
North Macedonia, Albania Several hundred women protested sexual
system patriarchy introduction 3
Burning of the effigy of author
and ambassador of BiH Martina
Mlinarević Sopta at the Mostar
Carnival, February 2020
Photo: copyright by klix.ba
violence and the “culture of silence and the and the household than pursue their own
lack of empathy with the victims“ in Tirana careers.
early in June. This was prompted after the Inequality and dependency of women
case of a female student came to light, who are closely linked to a destructive masculin-
had apparently been abused over a longer ity. In this context, the Balkan wars played a
period of time by several of her fellow pupils lastingly toxic role: the militarisation of the
and a school guard. societies happened primarily at the expense
Even in political parties women experi- of the women.
ence exclusion and even violence, it is unde- Man pillaged, expelled, murdered – man
sired for them to interfere with supposedly raped.
men´s affairs. However, the most incidents Only in Bosnia over 20.000 girls and
occur at home: According to a study of the women were sexually abused and raped
OSCE, around 50 per cent of women have during the war – the International Crimi-
already experienced violence in Bosnia. nal Tribunal in Den Haag found that those
Almost four out of ten women (38%) state acts were used systematically as a weapon
to have experienced psychological, physical of war. The aim was not only to defeat the
or sexual violence from their partners, hus- other ethnic group, the aim was to degrade
bands or other perpetrators.1 It is significant people, humiliate their women, to conquer.
for the post-war country that merely three The fact that the children of this viola-
per cent of those affected report the vio- tion are only sporadically struggling for
lence to the authorities. Shame, economic publicity and their rights today, is indicative
dependencies and widespread scepticism of the destructive climate which does not
towards the institutions are the reasons acknowledge the victims and their needs,
that the most offences are not reported at indeed often even declares the male perpe-
all. The coronavirus pandemic has indeed trators to be heroes.
further worsened the situation of women The most female victims are marginal-
worldwide, but particularly in the Balkans. ised and remain silent – their perspective
Violence is used in the Balkan region does not fit in a nationalistically charged
all the more when it concerns other sexual man´s world, which largely is disregarding
orientations. In North Macedonia, where gender issues.
the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE (a member Thousands of rape victims are trauma-
of the European People’s Party) has been tised; the deeds have barely been dealt with.
spreading aggressively homophobic ide- Furthermore, public authorities do every-
ologies for years, while exclusion is widely thing to make helping as difficult as possi-
spread in schools. The study of an Heinrich ble, international standards in the matter
Böll Foundation partner confirmed that 36 of victim protection hardly receive any
per cent of LGBT+ men and 16 per cent of attention. The United Nations only recently
LGBT+ women have already considered sui- called on Bosnia to take the rights of those
cide. Approximately one out of five girls in raped during the war seriously and to safe-
North Macedonia believes that women and guard their rights and remedies.2
girls should rather take care of the children
4 introduction system patriarchy
In the whole region, thousands of munities are propagating the supposedly
weapons are still in the possession of men optimal model of the “traditional family“,
– this likewise being a consistent source in which gender rights do not play any role
of violence in the countries of the Western and the man is in charge. Just how much the
Balkans, like for instance Serbia, where religious leaders are scorning individual and
domestic violence equally occurs on a daily equality rights, showed itself especially dur-
basis. ing the coronavirus crisis, when an imam
25 years after the war, those weapons in Bosnia declared: The coronavirus pan-
ought to have disappeared from the eve- demic at least brought one good thing with
ryday life of people – not least a task of the itself – now at least the Pride Parade, which
international community. was organised in Sarajevo for the first time
That after the wars of succession on the in 2019 with immense security measures,
territory of the former Yugoslavia no woman could not take place again.
was involved in the peace process – addi- In Croatia, the propaganda of the Cath-
tionally speaks volumes. Not only about the olic Church against the Istanbul Convention
political circumstances in the Balkan coun- (“Council of Europe Convention on prevent-
tries, also about the international actors´ ing and combating violence against women
understanding of democratic processes. and domestic violence”) was so strong that
As has been proved, peace processes in the Adriatic city of Split even thousands of
involving women are more sustainable and women protested against the Convention –
stable than the ones ignoring women and and thereby against a document promising
their concerns.3 more protection to women. Croatia is an EU
Thus, it is hardly surprising that with- member state after all – principles of gender
out the substantial shaping by women, the equality are under attack by Catholic and
Balkan states are still dominated by the nationalist circles here as well.
destructive patriarchal, nationalist ideolo- If the European Union seriously desires
gies of the nineties. Serbia and the Bosnian to tie the Western Balkan states to itself in
entity Republika Srpska are pursuing an the future, strategic approaches need to be
agenda envisaging a Greater Serbia, Croa- intensified, in order to make women aware
tia likewise has not given up on the crimi- of their rights, to involve them purposefully
nal Herceg-Bosna project (the creation of in political and economic decision-making
Greater Croatia). Instead of reconciliation processes. There must be an end to social
policies, the same destruction policies are structures in which the man is the boss, the
dominant, with which corrupt politicians exploiter, the bully, the torturer.
have kept the region in a permanent crisis By contrast, in civil society one can
mode for over two decades. increasingly hear female voices, therefore
The access to the resources likewise is more offers should be made to those female
almost exclusively male-dominated – the actors, in order to push a political transfor-
exploitation of the public purse and nature mation with international representatives
is done on a daily basis, sustainable politi- on an equal footing. For women who are
cal approaches often are an alien concept to being threatened because of their demo-
ruling politicians. cratic convictions and their political or civic
The economic imbalance in the region engagement, moreover protective mecha-
probably is perfectly emblematised when nism should be created. Without strength-
men in dark SUVs with sunglasses and a ening women and people with a different
horde of bodyguards rush past begging sexual orientation, without their equal par-
women and children at the roadside – the ticipation in the social and political life,
former have divided the power and the pub- without a sustainable reduction of discrimi-
lic funds among themselves – the latter are nation and violence, the Balkan states will
struggling to survive. persevere in their destructive patriarchally
The Churches likewise exert a lastingly dominated nationalisms – not excluding
negative influence in the region: the Serbian new spirals of violence.
Orthodox, the Catholic and the Islamic com-
1 OSCE-led survey on violence against women: Main report, OSCE 2019, https://www.osce.org/secretariat/413237 .
2 UN committee calls on Bosnia and Herzegovina to recognise sexual violence survivors’ rights after 25 years of impu-
nity, 19 August 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26171&LangID=E.
3 In Focus: Women, peace and security, UN Women, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-peace-security.
standby mode introduction 5
standby mode
Lejla Gačanica
In front of you is the feminist edition of Balkan Perspectives. We envisioned this edition
as a first-person, third-person testimony of women whose rights and fights have lasted
for generations in the Western Balkans. The ethical horizon of this issue is inscribed
in the expertise, experiences, reflections, data and facts of all female authors who are
themselves part of the feminist struggle for equality. This brought repercussions, exile,
and an unwavering determination that these struggles would not cease. Here we open
important topics, collect and summarise the status of women in the Western Balkans
and propose solutions. We wish you inspiring reading and constructive action!
It almost sounds insufficient, wasted, futile women with disabilities. Each identity here
to say that we live in a patriarchal society is classified first by gender (it determines
here in the countries of the Western Balkans. where you belong to in the general social
It almost goes without saying that life here order), and then ethnic (it determines your
is difficult, violent, disenfranchised. In the destiny in terms of where you live). All other
transition from the early 1990s, and all our identities can potentially be important if
histories before that, gender in the Balkans you are a mother, a wife (“from an obedient
is an almost unpleasant fact, a marginalised daughter to an appropriate wife”, Rumena
and repressed category, with regard to which Bužarovska). Women are a minority is a slo-
we only see weakness. The ‘gentler sex’, the gan of this year’s festival Firstborn Girl, rely-
‘prettier half’, ‘women and children’, are ing on symbolic burdens that this notion
just categories that are conveniently used carries, which are submission, subordina-
once a year for Women’s Day, badges on the tion, and being insufficient and less worthy.1
lapel of Balkan masculinity, always one step The repression aimed at stifling the
behind their men. Fitting into the norms of articulation of the demand for equality is
life here implies accepting a distorted power undisguised, because violating the existing
relationship, in which every segment of life ‘harmony’ means violating the comfortable
is coloured by gender-based discrimination positions of power, making women’s issues
and subordination. Imprisoned in gender political, agreeing to a revolution that we
roles, both men and women are required ‘do not need’. Because we have bigger and
to submit to tradition, religion, nation. The more serious problems. Than gender-based
order depends on the situation – and no one violence. Women’s political participation.
is the winner. Gender inequalities in the labour market.
The state of women’s rights and the Violence against communities outside the
position of women is ideal nowhere. This is generally accepted gender framework. Sexual
not an exclusive feature of the Western Bal- harassment and assaults. Autonomies of the
kans. What is characteristic of this region is female body. Yet even in other ‘most impor-
the stubborn resistance and suffocation of tant’ and ‘serious’ state and social issues,
equality between women and men, girls and women in the Western Balkans are excluded. Lejla Gačanica,
Editor-in-chief, independent
boys, LGBTIQ+ people, single mothers, rural They are not (sufficiently) represented in EU researcher and political
women, Roma women, ethnic minorities, integration processes, environmental poli- analyst.
6 introduction standby mode
cies, pandemic recovery measures. A per- state. Wire to borders, nationalisation of
fectly legitimate question then is – where are female bodies. Known for easily overflowing
the women in the Western Balkans? with tendencies and controversies, as well
The state of play we face here draws and as becoming part of the geopolitical context
exploits its power from and according to too late and too little, can we deal with what
gender. The current state and challenges of is to come? Or use the momentum to resist?
women’s rights in the WB show us a format So, where is gender in transitions: is
in which deep-rooted patriarchal norms revolution female? During different peri-
shape every segment of women’s lives. Vio- ods in the history of the Balkans, women
lence is the result of disturbed power rela- were pushed out of revolutionary memo-
tions, while finding its justification in social rable moments, while their contributions
acceptability. Or the absence of an efficient were significant. We remember a serious
reaction to prevent and stop it. The causes precedent in the case of the Women’s Anti-
are complex and long-lasting – generational fascist Front of Yugoslavia, a proud moment
oppression resulted in women’s depend- in the memory of women’s contributions
ence on male family members (economic, in the fight against fascism. Yet the extinc-
psychological), the role model implies a tion of this movement, accompanied today
quiet and submissive woman, and eman- by ethno-nationalist interpretations of the
cipation was fragmented and interrupted. once glorious common past, is losing its
In these circumstances, we have obtained place in remembrance. How is it possible
a society in which usually only one model to preserve female fragments of the past?
of gender relations is correct, and it implies How to bring to light what we can learn
heterosexuality, the traditional family, from, to direct ourselves to? The national-
morality and meeting religious criteria. Add ist policies that have occupied the Balkans
to that the difficult legacy of the wars of the impose frames of memory here as well:
1990s, and you get a picture in which we fail what is remembered and what is forgotten.
to address the causes because we are over- However, the violence that took place in the
whelmed by the consequences that are vital countries of the Western Balkans has never
now and here. The consequences, as well had a gender-neutral face. Wars are for men,
as the causes, are not a one-off thing here. women’s bodies are instruments of struggle.
It is worrying, however, that what we are War rape is viewed within the framework of
striving for, from current Europe’s margins collectivity,”the body of a woman is sub-
– the European Union – is also facing grow- jectivised as a representational element of
ing populism and nationalism, based on enemy and rival possessions, a symbolic
“Embroidery on the wooden
benches of the Women’s
a return to ‘primordial values’ that funda- space that signifies the right to occupied ter-
Museum, exhibition ” (Stickgarn mentally challenge equality, taking women ritory”.2 Women, let us not forget, were the
auf den Holzbänken des back for generations. It is unbelievable that first to actively oppose the war.
Frauenmuseums, Exhibition
Gestickte Moral. Spruchtücher
in 2020, the permissibility of abortion (the And not just in times of conflict. Rebuild-
zwischen Tradition, right to choose, the right to one’s own body) ing society, after a violent conflict, means
Rollenzuschreibung und is being discussed, while the most brutal involving women and finding ways to con-
Illusion)”, Women’s Museum
Hittisau, 2014 human rights violations are taking place tinue the struggle that has been interrupted.
Photo by: Lejla Gačanica under the auspices of the Church and the Almost as a rule, the state of law and social
status are taken a few steps back. Women’s
organisations and women activists were
bravely the first to cross the drawn lines of
the new WB states in search of reconciliation.
Women’s voices in Belgrade called for an end
to violence when violence was a legitimate
order. Women persevered in their efforts for
transitional justice, reparations, peacebuild-
ing. Then, and especially today, these women
have been exposed to threats, attacks, and
declared ‘foreign mercenaries’ and ‘enemies
of the states’. Women human rights defend-
ers are particularly subject to gender-based
attacks, such as intimidation and sexual
harassment, due to their gender and the
sensitivity of the issues they are working
on.3 The Women`s Feminist – Antimilitarist
standby mode introduction 7
Peace Organisation Women in Black (Ser- some left-wing circles that are increasingly
bia) raised their voice against illegal violent concerned about men’s ‘sexual freedoms’.7
mobilisation, aggression and crimes against By challenging existing power structures,
peace. From the very beginning of their activ- by their persistent deconstruction, women
ism, they have been exposed to constant introduce demands for equality into the
attacks, while its prosecution or prevention political and social discourse. This is never
is extremly slow, inefficiant or non-existing, an easy fight. And it will never stop. Noth-
thereby proving to be another way to the ing in the Western Balkans has been ‘given’
shrinking space for civil society, and feminist to women, everything has been won. The
voices. Women are also not included in the struggle continues on the shoulders of those
Serbia-Kosovo negotiations – how can any achievements. Even when they seem like a
progress be expected if half of the population pink delusion, women’s positions need to
representatives are excluded from important be constantly defended and renewed. There
deals for the future?4 are no breaks, we are constantly in a standby
The pandemic seems to be our newest mode. We are continuously reminded of the
transition, going hand in hand with capi- fragility of the elected positions by state-
talism. Understanding reproductive labour ments, actions and their non-sanctioning:
in capitalist and feminist discourses is the “God created woman for the mattress, not
opposite. The issue of the feminisation of for thinking” (Croatian right-wing politician
labour has shown a different face of the Anto Kovacevic to his colleague Vesna Pusic
market economy, along with the increasing in an official debate in Parliament), the
precarisation of labour for both men and Miss/beauty contest during Local Elections
women. Considering the right to work as an in the Republika Srpska (2012, BiH), the
important part of women’s emancipation, abuse of gender quotas (Tinka Kurti case,
it should be borne in mind that access to Kosovo), followed by the under-representa-
the labour market alone did not necessar- tion of women in political decision-making
ily mean or result in economic and social positions, gender-based violence in politics,
equality between men and women. Wom- and the invisibility of women from minority
en’s participation in the labour market, as groups in political parties and governments.
well as the types of work that women do, are If there is no systematic implementation
gender segmented. In WB countries, 30% of of gender policies in various spheres of
survey respondents said they had experi- the socio-political spectrum, nor women’s
enced some form of labour-related gender- voices in the creation, implementation
based discrimination in their lifetimes (34% and correction of policies, then the results
of women and 13% of men), with the strong- are the same – gender blind. Therefore, the
est predictor of the probability of being dis- political arena is a place for interventions
criminated against being gender in BiH and and we are witnessing a slow but persistent
Kosovo.5 The pandemic (COVIID-19) even entry of women’s perspectives here.
emphasised these differences and discrimi- In terms of creating a democratic state
nation. Women are those who take the bur- and respecting the values of human rights
den on the front lines: health, trade, unpaid and freedoms, resistance resides within and
house work, education, and the media; towards our societies. It is the driving force, a
jobs where women were the most common safe place from tradition, patriarchy and the
working force (catering, trade, production) contemporary notion of the social and politi-
were most affected by job loss; the whole cal. There are exceptional acts of resistance
burden of house wok is now on women who on the streets, in institutions, in local com-
do not get paid for it.6 munities, in art, in language, in academia. As
In times of uncertainties, there is an small as they may seem in the face of a corpo-
urgent need for intervention. WB countries rate-institutional opponent, any resistance
struggled to find their path(s) to address to the gender norm keeps the struggle for
some of the issues identified as denying, equality alive. And it paves the way for new
violations, derogation of women’s rights. generations of feminists. To speak up about
Addressing tradition, patriarchy, underrep- harmful traditions such as gender-selective
resentation, current political tendencies, abortions, appeals to conscience, femicide,
WB’s feminism has become a dirty word. to institutional disenfranchisement such as
Antifeminism is spreading from the clas- deprivation of the right to water, police bru-
sic conservative ‘family’ line, through the tality, access to health care, is an act of cour-
right-wing, the women’s alt-right move- age. We find it in various forms – truthfully
ment and ‘make-up fascism’, all the way to speaking, often divided and interrupted – but
8 introduction standby mode
articulated in the call for solidarity and resist- CEDAW and Istanbul Conventions, as well as
ance. Deprivation of rights and gender equal- a series of relevant laws which all the coun-
ity is inextricably linked to nationalism in the tries have adopted during the last decade,
Western Balkans, and should be addressed in but they remain weak in implementation
the same way. The ratification of the Istan- and are lacking full institutional support.
bul Convention in Croatia (an EU member EU integration may be a momentum for the
country), provoked massive resistance to the advancement of women’s rights in the West-
notion of gender and equality. Protesters of ern Balkans, but systematic work is needed
all age groups in Split (2018) including BiH’s here. As an example, in 2019, the European
citizens, many displaying Catholic symbols, Commission publish an Opinion on BiH’s
and including many Catholic priests and application for membership to the EU which
nuns, expressed their discontent with the is particularly weak on gender equality.9 This
government’s intention to ratify the Conven- sends the wrong signals about where wom-
tion. Many signs and speeches made refer- en’s rights are on the EU integration agenda.
ences to Croatia’s war in the 1990s, citing it The deconstruction of mythological
as a successful struggle for freedom.8 This nationalism that draws women into pub-
shows once again that war and liberation are lic ownership, devaluing their individual
appropriated in a populist fashion only for human, civic, and political being is possi-
loyal citizens – those who fit into the heter- ble. As soon as we perceive it as a threat to a
onormative image of a true patriot. There is whole society of well-being and prosperity.
no place for ethnic others, traitors, LGBTIQ+, We need to do this through breaking down,
and women-feminists. exposing and understanding the harmful-
So, where is the front line for the fight ness of nationalisms, ‘morals’ and the norms
for women’s rights in the Western Balkans? we cling to so tightly. I am not inclined to
Inside, or outside? Grass roots movements make excuses, but to understand the prob-
do their part, but change is not the sole lem. Without addressing this context, we will
responsibility and obligation of women. neither be ready nor able to find solutions.
In building a democratic society, rights No matter how much we are outside the EU,
and fights belong to and oblige everyone – we are still in its backyard. Close enough to
official governments and citizens, society. hear and see each other, and close enough
Expectations from the EU, the international to work together on the burning issues of
community, influences from outside are women’s status in the Western Balkans.
important, but they must awaken under- Regardless how surfeited and futile it
standing within each of our communities, may seem – we must keep repeating that
not allow to be just a ‘tick the box’ format. we live in a misplaced, patriarchal society.
Essence before form. In signing stabilisa- Because whole generations of girls and boys
tion and association agreements with the will grow up within the system of oppres-
EU, each WB country has committed to har- sion, considering it perfectly normal. Our
monise its national legislation with the EU societies are still in transition and every
acquis, towards eventual EU membership. moment is a moment to act. For revolution,
However, as annual EU country reports and for change. The strategy of the struggle
attest, the required reforms have been slow for women’s rights in the Balkans is based
and incomplete. The main gender equal- on the premise that we will not get tired and
ity legislative framework in the countries give up. The patriarchy here is male, but the
of the Western Balkans has been set, by the conversion must be female.
1 Tiiiit! Inc. is a feminist non-profit organisation from North Macedonia, the organiser of the feminist festival Prvo pa
žensko (It’s First and It’s a Girl).
2 Bećirbašić, B. Tijelo, ženskost i moć_upisivanje patrijarhalnog diskursa u tijelo. Synopsis, 2011.
3 Human Rights Defenders in the Western Balkans Report, Civil Rights Defenders, 2019, https://crd.org/wp-content/
uploads/2020/06/200611_HRD-REPORTS-ALL_ENGa_Web_Redused.pdf.
4 Mitić, A. Where are the women? 15.9.2020, https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2020/09/15/where-are-the-wo-
men/.
5 Farnsworth, N. Gender-based Discrimination and Labour in the Western Balkans, Kosovo Women’s Network, 2019,
https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GBD-Labour-WB.pdf.
6 Gačanica, L. When the masks fall – what gender of the future will be?, 14.4.2020, https://womencitizensforconstitu-
tionalreform.wordpress.com/2020/04/14/when-the-masks-fall-what-gender-of-the-future-will-be/.
7 Erceg, T. Nevolje s klasom i rodom. 18.1.2018, Novosti, https://www.portalnovosti.com/nevolje-s-klasom-i-rodom.
8 Milekić, S. Croatian Conservatives Protest Against Anti-Violence Treaty, 13.4.2018, https://balkaninsight.
com/2018/04/13/anti-istanbul-convention-protesters-turn-against-croatian-pm-04-13-2018/.
9 Pasquinelli, G. Two steps forward, one step back- Gender analysis of 2019 EC Country Reports for the Western
Balkans, Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, 2019, https://kvinnatillkvinna.org/2019/10/30/two-steps-forward-one-step-
back-2019/.‘naming the possible, responding to the impossible’: beyond gender normative politics state of play 9
state of play
‘naming the possible, responding
to the impossible’: beyond gender
normative politics
Jelisaveta Blagojević, Mirjana Stošić
The question of gender is always already an cipatory, critical and transformative con-
emergent political problem by itself. Theo- cept that problematises and questions the
retical and analytical approaches in the field dynamics of power relations in the social
of gender studies should always consider structures. With that in mind, we can inten-
the ideological, political, social, cultural tionally misread the gender-norm, misin-
and discursive context in which the notion terpret it as a non-place of power relations
of gender appears. All of these contexts ren- – the one that induces resistances and dis-
der the notion of gender according to alert- sent. Critical misreading reads performa-
ing multiplications of misreadings that call tively, perverting, inscribing and exscribing
for a situated critical analysis – a ‘diminutive the notion of gender from all patriarchal,
theory’, in Haraway’s words, (Haraway 1992, capitalist, orthodox and enclosed fields in
295) of always already bridging the distances which this notion is incarcerated.
and enmities in order to envision alliances, The authors of this study were recently
Jelisaveta Blagojević, PhD,
connections and affinities ‘beyond’ gender invited to write a chapter on gender literacy graduated in philosophy at the
normative politics. Using new ‘optical tools’ for a collection of essays under the title Global Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade
to produce re-embodiments of gender and/ Citizenship for Adult Education: Advancing and received her PhD in 2006
from the University of Novi Sad.
or non-human theories demands the rec- Critical Literacies for Equity and Social Jus- She teaches at the Faculty of
ognition of responsibility for the imaginary tice (Routledge). The topic that we proposed Media and Communications,
elsewhere that one must learn to see and for this edition was Gender Illiteracy and Singidunum University in
Belgrade. Jelisaveta is director
rebuild here. Relations of the Third Kind: Crisis, Critique of the Center for Research on
Speaking of contemporary Western and Politics. Our starting point was a critical Identity, Politics and Culture
Balkans experiences, many concerns and approach towards establishing the body of (IPAK.Center), and director
of the International Summer
questions about the notion of gender1 in knowledge around the contemporary usage School for Sexuality, Culture and
its contemporary usage are articulated and and understanding of the notion of gender, Politics. Her research interests
include contemporary (political)
problematised in a very conservative and while taking into account the various politics
philosophy, media studies, queer
non-emancipatory manner. Accordingly, and public policies of gender mainstreaming studies, and gender studies.
patriarchal structure in Serbian culture is and reduction to the binary models of gen- Jelisaveta is author of books and
numerous papers in the fields of
incarcerating the notion of gender into the der identities. The basic idea is the following:
philosophy, political philosophy
clear-cut labour divide and the overall gen- we need to become illiterate in understand- and gender and queer studies.
der politics (even though there are main- ing gender as a conservative, binary and
Mirjana Stošić graduated at the
stream gender advocacies) is reduced to administrative category that means nothing
Faculty of Philology in Belgrade
‘including’ women in the institutional envi- or is devoid of any transformative agency. (Serbian Literature and Language
ronment by making them less visible and Thus, a certain degree of unlearning about and World Literature), and
completed her Master Studies
their voices silenced under the citations of gender is necessary in order to re-open a at the Faculty of Media and
the male power. Therefore, the main consid- space for a critical, emancipatory notion of Communications in Belgrade
eration in this text will be, on the one hand, gender, which has been lost somewhere on (MA in Communications). She is
currently teaching at the Faculty
a critical perspective towards a new con- its capitalist pragmatic path within histories of Media and Communications in
servative hyper-proliferation of the notion and ideologies of the notion. One of the most Belgrade. Her field of research
of gender, and, on the other hand, an effort often addressed problems in the Republic of extends to semiology, cultural
studies, Balkan studies, critical
to re-establish a transformative attribute of Serbia, enhanced and violently prescribed theory, body politics and monster
the notion of gender as a political eman- during the last decade, is “a very strong gen- theory.10 state of play ‘naming the possible, responding to the impossible’: beyond gender normative politics
notions, and detracts from the work that the
concept should be doing. Gender as a syno-
nym for sex is clearly redundant, and reduc-
tive strategies to push it that way produce
confusion. But this confusion is necessary for
the notion of gender to remain transforma-
tive in practice and to safeguard the openness
of gender beyond the binary divide.
Gender is ‘performative’, a category that
seems to name a reality that constructs itself
in and through the performances that are its
only existence. In other words, there is noth-
ing natural or biological that gives us ‘men’
and ‘women’. Men and women are con-
structed conceptually through hierarchical
conceptual binaries that make such social
and physical identifications a possibility
as such and, hence, a norm. These perfor-
Male/Female In the Garden
by Eric Sonstroem, der ideology which appears to be still explic- mances are so thoroughly learned through
flickr - CC-BY-2.0 itly present in many aspects of our social and processes of citation and repetition that they
public lives [and] is quite visibly supported generally seem natural to the subjects who
by language forms used in public discourse,” perform them. Human subjects are thus styl-
(Filipović, 2011: 112), and it mainly refers to ised and scripted, naturalised and inscribed,
the mandatory use of the masculine form so that concepts of voluntary action and
in naming titles and professions, especially agency exist always and already within this
those that carry a certain amount of political apparent core of personal identity.
power, thus diminishing the female counter-
part only to reproduce and strengthen social After challenging decades of re-questioning
power models. Gender sensitive policy and gender binaries, all we are left with are
planning is one of the major tasks we have to equations between normative, normalised
critically work on in the future to come. and personal identity. Dichotomies have
As if all feminist work around the notion become obligatory and naturalised.
has disappeared; as if all of the poststruc-
turalist contribution has been erased. This In order to disturb these binary think-
‘contemporary’ trend that sets the notion of ing patterns (which are rejuvenating and
gender as a clear-cut designation (of gen- reclaiming their political strength), we
der, of sex, and even sexuality) draws critical are proposing a deconstructive embrace
attention to a certain fashion of relativisa- between the notion of gender and the
tions which were, a posteriori, ascribed to notion of autrui, third person, or the ‘rela-
poststructuralist and feminist deconstruc- tions of the third kind’.
tive efforts to re-evaluate the concept of Drawing on Maurice Blanchot’s concept
gender over and over again. In that sense, of the ‘relations of the third kind’ and its
contemporary Serbian gender theories and political implications, we argue that those
public policies are encapsulated within the relations are not characterised by some spe-
pejorative term of “gender ideology”, e.g. cific quality, some distinguished essence,
the gender political agenda of enforcing the but rather by the absence of those qualities.
change of the patriarchal structure, under- In this manner, Blanchot’s relations of the
stood as a simple destruction of every politi- third kind evade all traditional dichotomies
cal structure and community as such. characteristic of the West European tradi-
tion of thought, especially when it comes to
Feminism has considerably developed and gender: being and nothingness, subject and
enhanced the concept of gender. Working object, identity and alterity, presence and
through this development requires rigorous absence, and all imaginable exclusions of
attention to what gender adds to concep- a marginal and devastated field of minori-
tions of sex and sexuality. ties and/or less-than-human categories of
contemporary political, cultural, economic
In so far as gender slips back towards the hegemonic discourses. In the words of Rob-
supposed simplicities of males and females as erto Esposito, thinking the binary is perhaps
‘opposite’ sexes, it fails to add value to those best defined as situated “on the intersection‘naming the possible, responding to the impossible’: beyond gender normative politics state of play 11
where one is constantly translated into the mon birth and reconstructs it a posteriori as
other: nothingness is translated into being, something that has always been, presence
presence is void by absence, interior spills as such, thus including reproductive hetero-
into exterior” (Esposito 2012, 129). Thinking sexuality and militarism in the core of the
and politics that are not the tools of power, gender divide in the Balkans. Gender was
authority and the maintenance of the sta- said to be a categorial structure of binaries,
tus quo, now more than ever, seem to be in arranged hierarchically, so that concepts of
the hands of the relations of the ‘third kind,’ sexual difference and sexualities were pro-
places where they intersect, intertwine and duced, including the apparently natural
negate the positions of subject and object, biology of reproductive sex, based in ‘oppo-
male and female, human and non-human, site’ sexes – male and female – and consid-
etc. Only from these aporetic propositions is ering them within the political economy
it possible to probe the necessary questions of reproduction in every form it enables:
whose answers are still unthinkable from kinship in blood, definitions of family and
today’s perspective. women’s roles within such a family, patriar-
Furthermore, chal legacy in late capitalist liberalism and so
on. In other words, women appear as wives
one of the biggest problems in these recent, and mothers, and in relation to them, men
mainstream usages of the notion of gender appear as husbands and fathers within ‘the
in the Balkans perspective is its non-critical family’. The necessary presupposition for
understanding of the notion of identity in this framework is patriarchy. Rada Ivekovic
general. claims that gender is a form of ‘divided rea-
son’ (la raison partagée) which, in its turn, is
Katerina Kolozova proposes to establish an instrument of hegemony (Iveković 2007).
an interdisciplinary ‘link’ between Balkan Both the gender binary divide, as well
and gender studies, to trace the “patriarchal as the exclusion on which the nation is
patterns which have been repeated/modi- established, are essentialising the equal-
fied in different cultural contexts and at ity/inequality as natural and necessary. It
different times” (Kolozova 2016, 133). Con- is the political différend representing the
cretely, Kolozova deals with contextualisa- heterosexual normative paradigm through
tion and analysis of the term ‘misogyny’, its symbolic analogies, for other injustices
discursive non-presence, and offers a cru- and inequalities. It is a hierarchy which,
cial insight – “the actual presence of misog- one more time, addresses women as well
yny in public discourse is also an important as all other non-normative individuals and
symptom of cultural readiness for war or groups, as subordinate. Hence, they become
presence of war-culture in a seemingly subaltern and silenced. If the identity of any
pacified culture” (ibid.). Ethnic violence individual being exists only as its relation
and political hate-discourse, anti-migrant towards the other (e.g. community), and if
narratives and contaminated public space this relation paradoxically constitutes the
all result in the counter-security narratives self-identity of that individual being, per-
which call for “our mothers, our sisters, our haps we can state that the relation towards
daughters and wives” to be safe-guarded the other (difference, plurality) precedes
against the imminent threat of the “other” every identity structure. Accordingly, mod-
by “their husbands, fathers, sons and broth- ern politics is built upon the exclusion of
ers”. The discourse of sworn brotherhood is the other. That is the sole definition of the
narrowing and minimising women’s role in political – the relation to the other, that is,
the contemporary debate on security nar- modern politics is constituted upon the
ratives. We are witnessing war-like rhetoric ‘relations of the third kind’.
summoning the far-right protests and vio-
lent attacks against the migrant minority in Gender has historically and politically been
Serbia, based on the proliferative produc- built as an opposition, as a counter-hege-
tion of false news (e.g. migrants committing monic discourse and practice, against more
violent acts against “our women”) primarily institutionally oriented movements, but also
mediated through the state-run mediascape against a public space regulated by hetero-/
and military response. homonormativity, commercialisation and
In the same manner as, for example, the racism. In the Balkans, history and nec-
concept of national identity, the dominant ropolitics of the patriarchal paradigm have
contemporary understanding of the notion produced various racialised, sexualised and
of gender identity claims an imaginary com- normalised ‘subjects’ – we can no longer12 state of play ‘naming the possible, responding to the impossible’: beyond gender normative politics
speak of oppositions, but of the production ‘minority-embrace’, gender is class, and
of the relations of the third kind. class is race. To put it differently, gender
illiteracy and undoing gender mainstream-
This mirage of sovereign decision-mak- ing are of crucial importance in emancipa-
ing between the ‘livable’ and ‘unlivable’ sub- tory and transformative politics in general.
jects takes its toll on reproducing various Only if we abandon oppositional politics
minorities suspended ‘in-between’ unliv- of exclusion and devote our public poli-
able and death, especially with regard to cies and innovative political imagination
the current pandemic, globally and locally. of community to cherishing and develop-
These minorities, gendered and racialised, ing the ‘relations of a third kind’, are we
are left to die: domestic violence victims to understand that the notion of gender
(25% on the rise within the ‘state of emer- encompasses plurality of becoming-minor-
gency’ measures), the homeless (marked ity and destabilises exclusive bio/necro-
as irrelevant because they are ‘already iso- political and theoretical reductionism – by
lated’), migrants (violated and abandoned inclusion, reproduction of connections and
in camps and zones of exclusion under affinities that can and must transform and
military jurisdiction) and ethnic minorities emancipate every minority within the task
(such as the Roma people, marked as self- of becoming gender-illiterate and undoing
exposed due to an ‘unhygienic life style’). the traditional gender binary.
In that sense, and we strongly stress this
references
Blanchot, Maurice. 1993. The Infinite Conversation. Minneapolis and London: Univer-
sity of Minnesota Press.
Esposito, Roberto. 2012. Third Person: Politics of Life and Philosophy of the Impersonal.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Filipović, Jelena. 2011. Gender and power in the language standardization of Serbi-
an. In Bonnie McElhinny and Ann Weatherall (eds.) Gender and Language. Sheffield:
Equinox.
Haraway, Donna. 1992. The Promises of Monsters: A Regenerative Politics for
Inappropriate/d Others. In: Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, Paula A. Treicher (eds.)
Cultural Studies. New York, London: Routledge.
Iveković, Rada. 2007. Gender as a Form of Divided Reason. In: Robin May Schott &
Kirsten Klercke (eds.), Philosophy on the Border. Gazelle Drake Academic.
Kolozova Katerina. 2016. The After-War War of Genders. In: Sanja Bahun and V. G. Julie
Rajan (eds.), Violence and Gender in the Globalized World: the Intimate and the Exti-
mate. London, New York: Routledge.
1 It should be taken in consideration to reconstruct the gender category, because gender itself is a psychological and
cultural connotation that was used for the first time in 1968 by Robert Stoller to describe a term that has no connec-
tion to biological attributes. Many researchers and feminist critics wrote about the differentiation of the biological
and social aspects of this term, separating “sex“ from “gender“. Why is this matter important? Gender is a category
that opens the possibility of equal chances for all and even the inclusion of all participants of civil society, because it
takes into consideration all invisible, marginalised, non-normative and non-dominant social positions and groups. Also,
it recognises the corporeality and materiality in the analysis of gender political dynamics. All mentioned aspects of
gender research and transformations are important goals that should be reached in society, not just because it opens
new visibilities of identities and understanding of gender categories, but also provides tools for raising awareness
and highlighting many types of discrimination, violence and systematical conditions that are not visible to the law in
the Republic of Serbia. This possibility is important not only for the questions of gender, but for the development of
democracy in the state, because since 2012, Serbia has been a candidate for admission to the European Union. Alt-
hough the judicial system has done certain work in the context of gender-based violence and prevention of discrimina-
tion towards women and girls, the extent of political influences on the judicature and the corruption in the state still
is a main concern that disturbs the development of recommended tactics for inclusion policy, human rights initiatives
and the improvement of marginalised groups statuses (LGBTQ groups, Roma people, people with HIV and AIDS, and
all other socially vulnerable groups).how tradition and patriarchy impact violence against women in the Western Balkans state of play 13
how tradition and patriarchy
impact violence against women
in the Western Balkans
Ermira Danaj
Before going into the analysis of violence the household, will be considered as “nor-
against women (VAW) in the Western Bal- mal” relationships or “normal” behaviours.
kans (WB), let us briefly sketch the implicit Hence the importance of tackling VAW from
and explicit burden of patriarchal tradition a holistic approach that includes first edu-
on a girl/woman. Since her childhood, a cation of society at a large scale, and then
girl is mainly educated within the follow- prosecution and protection.
ing context: First of all, in almost all cases The transformation processes in post-
she has her father’s family name, not her communist countries, including the WB,
mother’s – a downgrade of the position of have often resulted in gendered job loss
the mother. On most of the house doors, with higher rates of female unemployment
only the father’s/husband’s name exists – and the dismantling of public services for
another downgrade. In the family certifi- providing particular help to women. The
cate in many countries, there is a specific transition also bolstered a retraditionalisa-
hierarchy – the father is the head of the tion of gender roles, where women’s roles in
household, the wife is just the wife. In many society were redefined, and women’s place
cases, the young girl will hear expressions was again homebound. When talking about
such as “learn to cook because you’ll go to retraditionalisation, we should be cautious,
your husbands’ place”, “be polite because considering also that during communism,
you’ll go to your husband’s place”, “shut up”, gender roles were not free of patriarchal
“how dare you”, etc. She will also learn that traits. Women’s emancipation during com-
the ultimate goal for her is to find a husband munism was meant principally in relation to
and be a mother; a woman should necessar- the productive sphere, not to the reproduc-
ily be a mother. In many cases, she will also tive one, and not as individual liberation.
experience sexual harassment, but she will Women’s engagement in the productive Ermira Danaj holds a PhD in
human and social sciences from
not tell because she fears to be blamed for sphere did not result in the equal partici-
the University of Neuchatel,
it, because she has heard that if you do not pation of men in the reproductive sphere; Switzerland. Since 2002, she has
behave in a certain way, you will be sexually women remained in charge of the caregiver co-authored and authored various
research reports, books, articles
harassed, or aggressed, or raped, or be con- role and were constantly considered in
and other contributions related
sidered immoral. Then she will get married, relation to the man or the state: a mother, to gender and feminist studies
believing that her husband is the head of a wife, a distinguished worker, etc. They with a particular focus in Albania
and the Balkans. Her main
the household, the one who issues orders, were asked to re-model patriarchal traits to research interests encompass
the one who has more rights than her, even mirror an ideal socialist family: they were the examination of gender in
the right to shout at her or slap her. In some now part of the productive sphere, but in communist and post-communist
Albania, the feminist activism
cases, she will be considered as her hus- the domestic sphere they remained mainly in post-socialist countries, the
band’s property, as it has been the tradition within the borders of the patriarchal system, gendered analysis of migration, of
in WB societies for a long time. Thus, for a subordinated to the husband and/or the in- VAW and DV, of labour market,
etc. In Spring 2013, she was
young woman it will be very hard to identify laws. These unequal gender relations were a Fulbright visiting scholar in
violence (particularly emotional and psy- reinforced with the fall of communism, and gender and sociology at The New
chological violence) as a crime or as a vio- Brunnbauer1 talks about the ‘domestica- School in New York. Currently she
is an invited lecturer on feminist
lation of her rights. In most cases, violence tion’ of women, referring not only to the vis- studies and a visiting researcher
against women, both inside and outside of ible withdrawal of women from the public at ISCTE-IUL in Lisbon.You can also read
