Removing sexual orientation as a basis for gender based violence from the law that is supposed to guarantee gender and sex rights for all is out of the question,  and represents degradation of human rights.

Together with the organizations Rights for All, Organization Q, Woman and Society, Centre for Legal Aid for Women, Centre for Free Access to Information and others, CURE Foundation firmly stands against such a move as it clearly violates the rights of many individuals.

As repeated several times, not only by civil society representatives, but also by a Federal prosecutor, lawyers and other professionals present at the Public Discussion on the Draft of the GELBiH (held on June 25th in Sarajevo), this type of amendment is unacceptable and would mean a serious setback for human rights in B&H.

As one of the justifications for this serious attempt to exclude and restrict the rights and legal protection of all, but especially LGBTIQ persons, the representatives of the Gender Agency BiH stated that “this issue“ would be resolved through the Anti-Discrimination Law. However, this law is still on the waiting list for adoption, and it has been since December 2008.

At the Public Discussion on the new draft of this important law, no members of the working group were present, and no Parliament representatives as their sessions took place at the same time as the public discussions in Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka. The sanctions for perpetrators of sexualized violence will remain as they are now – 6 months to five years.

Another illegitimate excuse for the outrageous attempt to reverse and disable the law came from Alma Como, member of the working group proposing the new draft of the Gender Equality Law BiH, (also representative of the House of Peoples, member of the Joint Commission for Human Rights, Rights of Children, Youth, Immigration, Refugees, Asylum, and Ethics of the Joint Commission for European Integrations) stating that: "For “the other status” you can subsume everything listed here which I do not like – this sexual expression and sexual orientation. I am saying it openly. I do not want it to be listed/included in the law. I do not like it written into the law. I think it falls under some other category and we can subsume it all under some other status." 

Civil society organizations from B&H will not accept a rollback of LGBTIQ and/or human rights and will ensure that the Gender Equality Law of this country guarantees the rights of everyone as planned.

More info:

31st Session in the Parliament – in Bosnian ;

Draft of the GELBIH – in Bosnian.