New land and old sorrow: war widows and fatherless families in Bosnian refugee diaspora

This paper is based on an anthropological study exploring the effects of forced displacement, genocide and politically motivated violence on social identities of women survivors and their families and local communities. In the first part of the paper, a summary of the main statistics and an overview of the historic facts about the recent war in BosniaHerzegovina are presented, followed by a critique of the limits of quantitative research data when drawing conclusions about the quality, character and consequences of the war and its effects on different socio-demographic and gender groups in the country. By offering an ethnographic description of everyday life of a war widow in diaspora (who also lost two her sons), in the second part of the paper, the author provides insights into psychological and socio-cultural issues affecting war widows and highlights the reasons for their emigration to third countries. The paper then goes on to discuss how forensic and biomedical technologies have assisted in rehumanising the missing and the dead, while the post-war bureaucracy in BiH has, to a great extent, had an opposite, dehumanising effect on the war widows, often leaving them no other option than to migrate to other countries. In conclusion, the author advocates for an activist approach of social science and humanistic disciplines involved in researching issues affecting war widows and their families, with the ultimate aim to protect and advance the human rights cause and women's dignity.