Femicide, as the most extreme form of gender-based violence, is still present in Bosnian society, and the year 2025 has not passed without victims. On this occasion, we investigated what has been done so far regarding femicide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Data from the United Nations (UN) showed that in 2024, 50,000 women were killed worldwide, and 12 victims were recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Victims of femicide are women who have suffered long-term family or partner violence, mostly reported earlier to the competent services. Most of them were killed by their partners.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, femicide is not an isolated incident. Civil society organizations and safe houses have been warning for years that the capacities for the protection of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are insufficient. The presence of femicide in our everyday life shows that violence against women is a huge social problem.
Statistical data on the number of murdered women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are more than worrying. According to available data from the Agency for Gender Equality in BiH, 56 women were killed in the period from 2015 to 2020. In the period from 2021 to 2022, 16 women were killed.
In the period from 2023 to 2024, 35 women were killed. According to the Agency for Gender Equality, 31 women were killed in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and four in the Republic of Srpska. Out of the total number of women killed, 17 of them were in some kind of partnership with the perpetrator.
According to the above data, since 2015, 107 women have been killed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the year 2025, there are still no statistics on the number of women killed, but the case of femicide from Mostar, when Aldina Jahić was killed, resonated most strongly. Anis Kalajdžić, who is currently in custody, was accused of this murder.
When submitting the report, police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (MUP HNK) characterized this criminal offense as aggravated murder of a woman, which is one of the first cases with this qualification after the adoption of the Law on Femicide.
What have we done about femicide?
In May 2025, a major step was taken towards the suppression of violence against women when the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Bill on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which treats femicide as the serious murder of a woman.
The Law states that whoever commits the gender-based murder of a woman will be punished with imprisonment in the amount of 10 years to long-term imprisonment. In addition, the changes refer to sexual intercourse with a weak person, with a child and abuse of position, and coercion into sexual intercourse, as well as lewd acts, satisfaction of lust in front of a child or minor, exploitation of a child or minor for pornography and introducing a child to pornography.
However, at the BiH level, we do not have a law that treats femicide as a criminal offense. As a separate criminal offense, it is not even in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska.
In December 2025, the European Union and the UN launched a new program worth 7.5 million euros with the aim of strengthening prevention and assistance to victims of gender-based violence, including femicide, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than 100,000 bh. of citizens, in 2025, by signing, it supported the Initiative for the introduction of femicide in the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Initiative for the adoption of a new Law on protection against domestic violence in the RS.
We will remind you that after the murder of Aldina Jahić in Mostar, citizens organized protests against femicide.
Although in FBiH we have a new legal framework that tightens prison sentences, and foresees measures to suppress violence against women and domestic violence, cases of femicide are still recorded in BiH. The question arises whether we as a society have done enough to deal with this severe form of violence and what else we can do.
Alma Kratina, a representative in the FBiH Parliament, told Klix.ba that it is necessary to adopt all by-laws.
“After the adoption of the new Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and Violence against Women, the Proposal for Amendments to the Criminal Law, as well as the Strategy for Prevention and Combating Domestic Violence, prerequisites were created for complete protection and support for victims, as well as harsher punishment of abusers. But in our reality, we could say that we have made real progress as a society in protecting victims of violence, but before that, in prevention, it is necessary to pass all by-laws. Unfortunately, the Government, i.e. relevant ministries, are late with this task,” she said. Kratina.
He points out that a wide and comprehensive education of all subjects in the chain of protection is necessary, both in the police, centers for social work, but also in the judiciary and prosecutor’s office.
“People who work with victims must be sensitized to solving these extremely complex situations. Better coordination between all institutions in the process of protecting victims is necessary and is defined, among other things, by the new law. Awareness of the importance of work on the prevention of violence has, however, been raised to a higher level after violence has long since left the private sphere. Much remains to be done, but there is some progress,” stated Kratina.
He adds that serious media campaigns are needed through which we will talk about prevention, but also empowering victims after the traumatic experience they went through.
“In a society where we daily witness aggressive actions, deviant behavior and the issue of insufficient mental health protection, a lot needs to be fixed in order to reduce the big problem of domestic violence and violence against women,” she concluded.
The problem of violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Psychologist Emina Kučuk spoke to Klix.ba about the issue of violence in our society. As she pointed out, it is important to talk about it because the issue of violence in our society and in general as a global construct is so complex, multidimensional, rooted, normalized that it cannot be simply explained or presented in any way.
“Never in the history of human nature has it happened that a bully stopped being a bully because you asked him nicely not to be one. Or because you presented him with all the rational, factual, obvious evidence why he shouldn’t be or why the victim doesn’t deserve it,” she said.
He points out that the emotions that exist and are awakened in us exist to enable us to survive. He states that violence is a problem deeply rooted in all spheres of our society.
He points out that the victim can make a victim of himself. He adds that the bully can perceive himself as a victim because he did not get what he considers to be his due.
“Violence is a problem deeply rooted in all spheres of our society. The measuring unit for the normalization of aggression and violence in our lives is the time spent in aggressive and violent relationships. Business, private, family, friendly, partnership. A healthy form of behavior implies recognizing violence in all its shades, because violence is a multidimensional construct, and setting clear boundaries and leaving such relationships,” he states.
He adds that people resort to violence when they are powerless to convert their inner fears, frustrations or other emotions in accordance with their own capacities.
“Simply put: A man who will beat and kill a woman is a coward. A coward is like a beast that attacks when it smells weakness. Weakness can mean economic, emotional, existential dependence on a partner or any other weakness in relation to a partner. Given the prevalence of all forms of violence against women, these cowards know very well how weak the system is and how many of their ‘accomplices’ are in high positions in society. Physical abusers are in 99 percent of cases also psychological abusers, who are used to make you feel like you’re losing your mind. You feel like you don’t know where the fights start and where they end and why. You don’t know where the ball starts and ends and you’re constantly trying to unravel and understand the plot,” she said.
Kučuk adds that a bully can also be a person who has been abused by his environment or peers, so he finds his victim in a woman, he writes Klix.
“Thugs are brought up; during upbringing, someone adopted a violent pattern of behavior that is not adequately treated or adequately sanctioned. He saw the treatment of his father towards his mother or the environment. To all victims of violence, I want to say that there is always someone who will understand them, who will love them, protect them. Be brave, leave abusive relationships. Whoever that bully is in your life,” she concluded.
