To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, members of the ‘Foca 92-95’ victims association, including survivors of sexual crimes, gathered in the eastern Bosnian town on Saturday.

They laid wreaths in front of the ‘Partizan’ Hall in the town, which served as a Bosnian Serb prison camp for women.

They also took a walk through the town and threw flowers off of the local bridge into the Cehotina river.

Foca is known as an example of the systematic sexual abuse of Bosniak women during the war in BiH. The victims experienced this kind of humiliation at numerous locations in the area of this municipality, including in the Partizan Hall.

Zehra Murguz is one of more than 100 women who were kept there.

“Even though I try to suppress some memories, images of humiliation and horror constantly follow me,” she said.

“It is difficult when a mother watches her 12-year-old girl being abused, memories it is difficult when a girl watches her mother being abused, and they can't help each other,” Murguz said.

The surviving women of Foca had the courage to testify before the International Court of Justice in The Hague about the rapes, which ultimately led to a historic qualification in international law.

“Thanks to the persistence and courage of these women, the International Court of Justice established a war crime of rape for the first time in history and opened the door to fight crimes of that kind across the planet,” said Stasa Zajovic, head of the Belgrade Women in Black Association.

The head of the Foca 92-95 Victims’ Association, Halida Uzunovic, stressed that many women in this town had experienced the crime of rape and that many criminals have not been held accountable for their crimes.

The Vice President of Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity, Melika Mahmutbegovic, emphasized that women who experienced sexual violence are unfortunately on the margins of our society today, without adequate institutional support.

“And not only raped women, but former prison camp inmates in general, I think it is our obligation to legally resolve their status in addition to verbal support,” Mahmutbegovic said.