On February 12, 2025, a woman (I.S.) and her thirteen-year-old son were brutally murdered in Kalesija. Following this tragic event, the organization Glas žene Bihać, together with partner associations involved in the campaign “We Will Not Die in Silence,” is calling on the relevant institutions to urgently submit and adopt amendments to the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) that would introduce femicide – gender-based murder of women – as a distinct criminal offense, and to put this proposal to a vote in the FBiH Parliament.

Specifically, the Federal Ministry of Justice needs to urgently draft the amendments to the Criminal Code of FBiH and submit the proposed text to the FBiH Parliament, which should adopt it through an expedited procedure.

The organization Glas žene Bihać has prepared the text of the Amendment to the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of FBiH, which was supported by all political parties during a meeting held on January 15, 2025. The Amendment introduces femicide as a distinct criminal offense in the Criminal Code of FBiH, along with the necessary definitions (gender, sex, gender-based violence).

The importance of this issue is underscored by the fact that approximately 60 femicides have been committed in the past 5-6 years, with 13 cases of gender-based murders of women recorded in 2024 alone. The continuous occurrence of femicide in Bosnia and Herzegovina calls on all of us – especially lawmakers responsible for passing legislation – not to lose another day waiting for the criminal legal regulation of femicide.

We would like to remind you that over 7,500 citizens of FBiH have signed a petition demanding that femicide, as a gender-based murder of women, be defined in the Criminal Code of FBiH to ensure a legal basis for better protection of women from gender-based violence.

Watch the video statement at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/517420764295613/?s=single_unit