Any form of violence against women and girls is a violation of basic human rights and not only endangers the victims but also leaves grave consequences in the environment where it took place, participants of the Global Convention of partners of UN Trust Fund to Combat Violence against Women said on Monday in Sarajevo.

The convention will last until November 7 and will mark the beginning of the global ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign to raise awareness about violence against women.

The opening of the Convention also marked the beginning of the first official visit of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuk, UN Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Global Convention of the UN Fund brings together more than 100 participants from all over the world, including the region of Southeastern Europe, to discuss work on the elimination of violence against women.

Over the past 22 years, the Fund has supported 517 organizations with 149 million US Dollars in 139 countries and territories, and over the past year alone has involved more than eight million people.

The Chairman of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, told media that state institutions will fulfil their part of the work and pass the necessary laws, but that the question remains how this will be reflected in society.

“Many factors influence this. The question is how democratic a society is, what the role of institutions is, the public opinion, religious communities (…) The problem is not simple,” he said.

Komsic cited studies which say that nearly 50 percent of Bosnia’s women have faced some form of violence either in their family or related to the 1992-1995 war “when those war crimes and violence against women were being used for achieving wartime goals.”

In his opening address, Komsic said that violence against women was one of the burning issue in the country.

“Violence against women and girls is not and should not be considered a problem of an individual,” he said.

He added that individuals, as parts of society, are responsible for recognizing the characteristics and forms of violence that is taking place.

“We have a duty to support abused women and girls and take action on creating preconditions to prevent that abuse,” Komsic said, adding that adequate support would encourage victims to report violence to authorities and send a message to the perpetrators that they will be punished.

“Any form of violence against women and girls is a violation of basic human rights, and it not only endangers the victims but leaves grave consequences on the environment where the victim lived and on her close relatives,” said Komsic.

As part of a civilised society, Bosnia has a duty to prevent violence and openly speak about the problem of violence against women and to support institutions which work on curbing it, he stressed.

Komsic also added that Bosnia has taken a number of steps towards making significant progress in creating preconditions for the prevention of violence against women.

UN Women Executive Director Mlambo-Ngcuka said that only when everyone works together, including both governments and civil society, violence against women and girls can be eliminated.