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UN: Sexual Violence Affects 1 in 3 Women Globally

Margaret Besheer

   UNITED NATIONS - At 15 years old, Ajna Jusic finally learned the truth
   about the father she never knew.

   "I spent nights thinking about my father," said Jusic, now 26 years
   old. "I made so many scenarios in my mind, but not just the one where I
   was born as the result of war rape."

   Jusic is one of thousands of children born of the genocidal rape of
   between 20,000 and 50,000 Bosnian Muslim women and girls by Serbs
   during the Balkan conflict in the 1990s. Today she heads the
   Association of Forgotten Children of War in Bosnia, which seeks to get
   these young people the services they need, including help with
   education costs and psychological and legal support.

   "I cannot live in (the) dark, in invisibility anymore," Jusic said. "I
   need to scream and tell society I'm here, please don't call me a child
   of hate, because I love and I want to be loved." Jusic addressed a U.N.
   meeting Monday on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
   Against Women.

   Sexual violence against women is endemic, affecting one in three women
   globally.

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