Domestic violence at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The subject of this paper is domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This paper aims to determine the type and scope of sanctions in Bosnia and Herzegovina for domestic violence before and during the pandemic, patterns of victimization during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine and compare data on the scope of domestic violence before and during the pandemic. The data was collected from the state institutions and non-governmental organizations that provide assistance and protection to victims of violence. The most commonly imposed sanction for domestic violence was a suspended sentence. During the pandemic, combined forms of violence were most commonly reported, with various manifestations of physical, psychological, or economic violence, even femicide. The crisis has led to an increase in the scope of violence in families where dysfunctional relationships were previously recorded, but also to the appearance of the first forms of violence in families where violence had not occurred before. There has been a significant increase in violence reported to NGOs, and these figures do not match those of the state institutions.