Social problem and social responsibility – femicides are not incidental cases but a warning of a serious social-systemic problem. While the numbers are growing, journalists and activists warn: institutional reactions are often late, and society’s reactions are wrong… How do we as a society treat femicide?
The far-reaching nature of the problem of femicide is best illustrated by the fact that in 2024 alone, 12 cases of femicide were recorded – murders of women just because they are women, BHRT.
There is no official cross-section of data for the year 2025, but every day we witness new cases of femicide. Although this problem is being talked about more and more and there are even adequate legal solutions, the institutions still fail to react in time.
“If we have a new law in the Federation, the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and Violence against Children, which was adopted in March, not all accompanying documents are still in practice, so to speak… what do we need? How long does it take for that to come and go?”, warns Jadranka Miličević from the “Cure” Foundation.
According to the letter of the law, the police is the first instance for reporting, and journalistic research and testimonies of victims and activists point to unacceptable reactions precisely when reporting violence.
“Victims of violence report violence, then they say: it’s nothing, go, you’ll reconcile, it’s a small disagreement. A small disagreement is a big problem and challenge for someone. We are obliged by law to report when we suspect violence and for the police to come to the scene and establish the real situation”, notes Sabina Husić, director of “Medica Zenica”.
“At Detektor, while we were investigating the murders of women, we saw that the majority of murders had domestic violence in the background, where the institutions and their responsibilities were not reacted as they should have been, where emergency protective measures were not issued, where the abusers were not checked by the police, where the police gave themselves the right, that is, police officers to get involved in the reconciliation of the married couple or to convince the woman that reporting is not the best option,” says investigative journalist Azra Husarić Omerović.
