The CURE Foundation, as a member of the Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform, on Friday, May 17, 2024 organized a street action in Sarajevo. During the street action, activists shared informative materials and spoke with citizens with the aim of introducing them to constitutional reforms and priorities such as the use of gender-responsive language in the Constitution of BiH and the introduction of affirmative measures in the Constitution of BiH in order to achieve full gender and sex equality. The action was also joined by representatives of the Renaissance Association, which for years has been pointing to the inefficient healthcare system and the lack of medicines for cancer patients. The president of the Renaissance Association, Enida Glušac, emphasized the necessity of expanding the provisions of the catalog of human rights in the Constitution of BiH, which regulate unique health, social and family protection, and shared the experiences of the members of her Association who lead a daily struggle to exercise the right to the medicines they need.
A member of the Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform, Maida Zagorac, pointed out that this Initiative has been existed since 2013 and that it gathers civil society organizations, activists who advocate for changes to the Constitution of BiH from a gender perspective on a daily basis in order to achieve a more equal and fairer participation of women and men in the private and public life of BiH, and a fairer society for all. In addition to the use of gender-responsive language in the Constitution of BiH, which is the latest recommendation of the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of BiH to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, and the introduction of affirmative measures in the Constitution of BiH in order to achieve full gender and sex equality, one of the most significant focuses of the Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform is the expansion of the existing catalog of rights with provisions related to unified health, social and family protection.
Zagorac explained that the Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform point out that due to uneven legislation at the level of entities, cantons and municipalities, the system of social insurance and health care is not equal for everyone and that the citizens of BiH therefore exercise different degrees of guaranteed rights, which is especially evident in this field. For example, the list of medicines that are on the essential list is different, in certain cantons/entities some medicines are not available at all or are very expensive, women in labor enjoy different degrees of maternity protection rights in different cantons, the response to gender-based violence is different and depends from the degree of sensibility of persons working in institutions…
Health care is provided at the entity/cantonal level, therefore the existing catalog of human rights in the Constitution of BiH needs to be expanded with provisions that guarantee the specific rights of women in private and public life. These rights include: prohibition of violence based on sex and gender, gender identity and sexual orientation, equality of spouses when entering into marriage, its duration and upon dissolution of marriage, freedom to decide on reproductive health, special protection exercised by mothers and single parents, as well as the protection of the working status of women during hiring and especially the protection against dismissal from work during pregnancy and maternity leave.
Denija Hidić, PR of the Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform, believes that by introducing gender-sensitive language in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we make women more visible and equal members of our society.
Language is not only a means of communication, language creates mental images. Language standardization is also a political act. Whoever has power over language standardization processes also has power over society and individuals. By introducing gender-sensitive language in the Constitution of BiH, we directly influence the suppression of discrimination against women in the Constitution. In this way, the Constitution does not promote stereotypes, it respects the grammatical gender (female), while making a woman visible as an equal member of society instead of assuming her, Hidić said.
She added that in the countries of the region, gender equality is one of the highest values of the constitutional order and one of the foundations for the interpretation of the Constitution. Unfortunately, in Bosnia and Herzegovina we do not even have an approximate situation when we talk about gender equality, both in the fundamental legal act, i.e. the Constitution, from which we should derive gender equality, and also in secondary legal acts and documents.
The Initiative Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform points out that they are organizing street actions in different parts of BiH and that they are encouraged by the fact that more and more citizens of BiH are joining them, who see the Initiative’s efforts as extremely important and support them.
Women Citizens for Constitutional Reform 