A dilapidated house in a Roma settlement. © CARE/Sandra BullingMara Radovanovic is a 63-year-old Bosnian woman who fights against the trafficking of women in the Balkans.
In the late 90s, after the end of the war in the region, Mara founded an organisation “Lara”. With support from CARE Lara manages a shelter for abused women. The majority of them are Roma, a group which faces a lot of discrimination. The women are often forced into prostitution at a young age, under brutal conditions.
Mara explains how it works: “A young girl from a poor family is impressed with expensive gifts. A trafficker gives the girl a cell phone or cosmetic products, things the girl could otherwise never afford. She takes these presents, and then the trafficker blackmails. He threatens to tell her parents that she slept with him in exchange for these gifts. This is a total disgrace for a young woman from a traditional background.” The girl is then in the hands of the trafficker who forces her into prostitution. Once thrown into this circle of coercion, the young woman has little chance to get out.
Those who are not impressed by gifts are seduced by drugs. “The traffickers mix drugs into a drink which numbs the girl. Then she will be raped in a room. The rape will be filmed and the traffickers blackmail the girl. That’s how they get the girls in their hands.”
Lara’s shelter (the address must remain secret) has been a safe house for Sweta for the past three months. At just 17 years old, Sweta has experienced betrayal, pain and abuse on an unimaginable level. She explains: “When I was 14 years old, I lived with my grandmother. My mother was mentally ill and could not take care of me. My grandmother always locked me in a room. With men. I couldn’t do anything. My grandmother has told all my relatives what a bad girl I am. The whole family has disowned me. Then my grandmother sold me to my teacher. In the shelter of Lara I feel safe for the first time.”
Mara listens to such disturbing stories every day. The trade of girls is a lucrative business in the Balkans, and high political circles are often involved. Perpetrators are almost never arrested or charged. Because of her commitment, Mara faces many enemies. “A few years ago I was threatened by a nightclub owner,” the former lawyer says. “He sent men to intimidate me. But a commander of the international forces helped out. Now the criminal is in prison.”
Mara has built a wall of protection around herself with the support of local media, other organisations and attorneys. CARE helps her manage the women’s shelter and connects Mara’s organisation with other regional women’s movements.
While Sweta is searching for a new life, with hopes of one day becoming a police officer, Mara will continue assisting other girls. Girls who are trapped in the back rooms of Bosnia’s hotels, bars or nightclubs and who are abused every day. This knowledge is the basis of Maras’s motivation. “It’s a dangerous job. But when we have saved a girl like Sweta, it is a compensation for all the dangers and efforts. That’s why I am doing this job.”
