Heart and Soul

BBC World Service Online

Heart and Soul: Bosnia's War Babies: Episode 1

Religion & Ethics

The teenagers born as a result of war rape in Bosnia - and their mothers.

One of the many charges faced by Radovan Karadžić at The Hague is that of organising the rape of 20,000 Bosnian Muslim women.
Fifteen years after the conflict, many of these women remain traumatised, cast out from their communities, rejected by their husbands and families, and often ending up stigmatised and impoverished.

Some had the additional humiliation of being raped in front of their parents or small children.

Yet the psychological support that so many of them urgently need is inadequate and sporadic.

Some women were kept for months and raped until they conceived.

Many of those who became pregnant either abandoned their babies or had them adopted.
Some decided to keep them, a constant reminder of their shame.

These children – now in their teens – are beginning to ask questions about their fathers.

The mothers now face a dilemma – should they tell the truth and risk damaging their child? Or keep their terrible secret?

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BBC World Service

Heart and Soul: Bosnia's War Babies

Bosnia's War Babies

The story of teenagers 'born from hate', as a result of war rape in Bosnia, who are now experiencing mental trauma.

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Bosnia's War Babies

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