Circles on the Mountain

Bosnian Women in the Twenty-First Century

This book combines scholarly research with first-person interviews to examine the current state of women in Bosnia twenty years after the Balkan War—their emotional recovery, their economic situation, and their prospects for the future. It describes how two of the worst issues affecting Bosnian women today are domestic violence and trafficking. Both are being addressed successfully by Bosnian women’s organizations applying skills developed earlier in coping with rape and war trauma. It demonstrates how these organizations shoulder a societal load that various levels of government have no will or budget to address, and shows that in parts of central Bosnia feelings still run high between Christians and Muslims. The authors argue that where ethnic hostility persists in rural areas, successful peace building should include ethnic song and dance as well as dialog groups.