Bosnia Must Fight Against Transfer of War Trauma

Delic warns that a parent’s trauma is being transferred to children, thereby affecting future generations.
 
In an interview for BIRN, Delic speaks about the silence surrounding wartime rape, and her experiences with Srebrenica survivors who arrived in Tuzla in July 1995.
 
BIRN: You were among the first persons to talk with women, children and elderly persons who left Srebrenica. Can you describe how they seemed when they arrived to territory under the control of Bosnian forces?
 
DELIC: Those scenes are still fresh in my memory and I can recall a situation of mass traumatisation. In front of me stood hundreds and then thousands of women, children and elderly persons. The women showed signs of symptoms of acute reaction to stress, in a state of shock. There were situations that mothers lost their milk or stopped being able to breast feed children. They gave us their children screaming. I remember we cried in those situations which were highly traumatic for us. At the same time we tried to do the best possible thing and accept and assist those arriving.
 
BIRN: Do you know if there were raped or sexually abused women among the Srebrenica refugees?
 
DELIC:  I have information that there were rape victims, although it is likely we will never know the exact number of raped women, just like we don’t know them for other regions, because of the concept of a silence conspiracy, which is connected to sexual violence in conflict.
 
BIRN: Why do we have a conspiracy of silence?
 
DELIC: In the area where we live, in our culture, women are regarded as carriers of culture, as rape is seen as something shameful, a loss of honour for the victim and their family. This is why, because of the shame which is forced upon victims due to this attitude in our society, some victims decide to keep silent. The second reason is that our community has not demonstrated a special sensitivity, or allowed for systematic or continued support which should be granted to victims in their state. So, the community is not sensitive towards the problems of the victims, so some victims decide to keep quiet, because they have seen that even those individuals that have spoken out about what happened to them are still marginalised and discriminated against in our society.
 
BIRN: How can the silence affect children and families, our new generations?
 
DELIC: From the position of traumatology, it is important to speak about the trauma because of the inter-generation transfer of emotions related to traumas. The little research which has been done proves that untreated trauma leaves consequences on future generations. Research from holocaust survivors, shows that children carry an echo of the inner suffering and internal world of the unspoken suffering of their parents.
 
BIRN: Can the silence of Srebrenica sexual violence victims be additionally related to the fact that they lost their family members? Are they hiding their trauma because of this loss?
 
DELIC: In psychiatric-traumatology there is a phenomenon called ‘survivor guilt’. Sometimes the reason for silence can be saving the honour of family and sometimes the trauma of losing members of one’s family is a greater trauma then rape for some victims. Clients that have lost children or husbands say that rape compared to losing a child or husband is not as traumatising as losing loved ones.
 
BIRN: How important is the prosecution of perpetrators for victims?
 
DELIC: From my experience of leading a group therapy session, I can say that the general opinion is that victims want justice. Considering the slow nature of achieving justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina so many years after the war, it seems that justice has been betrayed and that the victims themselves have been betrayed. The survivors are unhappy with the lawsuits for compensation claims against perpetrators, they are unhappy with the length of verdicts perpetrators are sentenced to, they say they would be happy if someone would be publically named in the media as a perpetrator. This idea of justice is different, but I can generally say that they would be happier if the prosecution of crimes would be faster and the punishments more adequate.
 
BIRN: Do victims respond better to group or individual therapy?
 
DELIC: During individual treatment sessions I planned to create a group. I led two groups for women who wanted to be treated that way as well. In some cases the experience from group psychotherapy was significant. Some of the women were encouraged to open personal lawsuits, help prosecute crimes, became active members of the society, or started their own associations. This is vital because it improves the possibilities of social inclusion, helps education and advocates for rights of victims, helps improve their position and quality of life, for them and their families.
 
BIRN: As a neuropsychiatric, do you have a message to women that have still not spoken publically about the sexual violence they endured?
 
DELIC: Because of intergeneration and trans-generation transfer of trauma, I believe it would be pertinent to treat trauma, and to do this, one needs to open up to someone. I believe it would be good for them to find the strength to talk about their experiences. At the same time, because reactions of victims to crimes do not just depend on an individual, whether they are weak or strong, but also on the reaction of a community, I would say that our community needs to learn to be supportive and ensure systematic assistance on all levels – such as healthcare, social and economic benefits and free legal aid.