Lepa Mladjenovic: Ethics of Difference – Politics of Feminists from Divided Former Yugoslavia

“Some men will produce battlefields of women's bodies, blood, pistols, injuries, humiliation.”

“If you work one day with women war survivors and women survivors of peace, there is not such a big difference. And then you start thinking of that continuum of violence against women that starts with the first slap and then goes to the concentration camp.”

“The fact that 20 women from different nations in war - Albanians and Serbs are in war, Muslims and Serbs in war, Croats and Muslims in war, Croats and Serbs in war - and all these women we were sitting together every night. This fact that we were sitting together was a tension of doing the right thing.”

Abstract:

“The war in the former Yugoslavia has moved local feminists to work with women war survivors and some foreign feminists to organise local women to do the same. In five years of war most of the activists from these groups in the divided nation-states have been networking with each other. The women have continuously learned about issues surrounding nationalism, violence and the media and the intensification of male violence against women during war. They have worked with war rape survivors in Belgrade, and will discuss issues surrounding their testimonies and their methods of survival. 

The war in Bosnia, Hercegovina and Croatia has increased the need for feminists to unite among different ethnic names, sexual orientation, age, body ability, etc. After the destruction of war feminists have moved towards the ethics of difference. Feminists across former Yugoslavia are inventing every opportunity to meet each other and work together; these are usually very emotional experiences for everyone - full of pain, joy and singing. Then, in groups in Belgrade one can find women in wheelchairs as well as those of different names (Gypsies, Muslim, Jewish, Croat,...) as well as young punk girls in leather jackets, lesbian couples, divorced women, refugees, and pensioned women all together for the late night post-war parties. 

Since 1978 Lepa has been a key player in initiating the women’s movement in Belgrade. She is co-founder of a number of feminist organisations in Belgrade: Women and Society, SOS Hotline for Women and Children Victims of Violence, Women in Black Against War, the Lesbian and Gay Lobby Arkadia, The Centre for Women’s Studies and the Autonomous Women’s Centre Against Sexual Violence.”

Since 1996:

Lepa has continued her feminist and lesbian activism, facilitating workshops and publishing papers. She was co-organiser of Belgrade Pride 2001, and co-founded the Counselling SOS line for Lesbians in 2012. She was awarded the Anne Klein Women’s Award in 2013 in recognition of her commitment to gender democracy. She published her manifesto, Politics of Women’s Solidarity, in 2013 (https://www.civilcourage.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Solidarity.pdf).