Dealing with the Past: Serbia and Women in Black

In a circle on Trg Republike are about fifty women. Most of them are dressed in black. They are holding banners and signs reading "We refuse to go back", "Abortion is a basic women's right" and "Feminism = Anti-Militarism". This is a pretty common sight to most Belgraders by now. Women in Black (WiB) has held vigils at the Republic Square since 1991. They have protested against the war, against Milosevic, against the crimes that have been committed in their names. The last few years against how the nationalistic and traditional values, which are heavily promoted by the majority of the parliament and the Serbian Orthodox Church, puts women in cackles. WiB are determined in their demand that Serbia has to deal with the past in order to go on with the future.

Serbia today are leftovers from ten years of war and its people are deeply disappointed that the uprising that forced Slobodan Milosevic out of office in October 2000 has not filled their wallets or given them a pass into the EU. In Serbia today Serbian Orthodox priests are standing next to the prime minister preaching that women should go back to the kitchen and deliver babies. At the same time Serbia is a country where the people has stopped having children because tomorrow seems no better than today. More than half of the people I met in Belgrade want to live somewhere else but Serbia.

The hopefulness after the public protests that forced Slobodan Milosevic off his throne on October 5, 2000 has, after the assassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic in March, 2003, been replaced by tiredness. Few people have any energy left for a political fight. The democratic movement experienced a huge defeat in the last election. Now the parliament is once again dominated by nationalistic and conservative rightwing parties (though several of them use the word "democrat" in their party name). Slobodan Milosevic, who was held in The Hague for Crimes Against Humanity, was until his death the third most popular politician in Serbia. The most popular is the ultra-nationalistic leader of the Radical party Tomislav Nikolic. The chairman of the Radical party, Vojislav Seselj, is also he in the Hague.

In the vacuum that followed the wars, between what used to be the country of Yugoslavia and the new Serbia-Montenegro, the people are confused about what should make up the Serbian identity. The Serbian Orthodox church has used this vacuum well and has managed to take over a huge part of the political floor. According to research 68% of the Serb population says that the church is the institution that they have to most confidence in. No politician dare to risk the support of the church, and so flirting with religious leaders has become a daily activity on their agenda. The younger generation is more conservative than the older, and they have huge tendencies toward nationalism and fascism. Most young people are against abortion and for traditional male and female gender roles. All the while the older generation still hold strong socialistic values.

Women's rights fighters are active but their fight is complicated. Outside of the circle of activist and academics at women studies programs there is no feminist dialogue. The word "feminist" is a bad word to most Serbian men and women, although few would be able to explain what the word really means. Ever since the time of Milosevic NGOs have been depicted as Serbian traitors that are making themselves rich with the support of money and funds from the West. Serbian feminist activists are ousted for questioning the patriarchal society. Women in Black have been accused of organized prostitution, and money laundering when all they've ever done is exposing the truth about the crimes committed in their name, promoting collective responsibility to get Serbia back on its feet.

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