Members of the Women’s Network BiH condemns the SDP’s proposal to shorten maternity leave that was put forward by Besima Borić, member of the Federal Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was published in the daily newspaper “Oslobođenje” on 26/08/2014, in an article titled “The SDP policy and social policy: shorten maternity leave.”

In this article, a member of the SDP Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and President of the Forum of Union activists of SDP, presented the Labour and Social Policy of the SDP as one of the seven policy document „Manifesto 2014“, where she concluded that “the analysis showed that maternity leave of 12 months is a burden on social funds or employers” and that the SDP believes that „it would be good to open up the disscussion about the shortening of the leave.”

Women’s Network strictly condemns this statement which, above all, violates basic women’s, and children’s rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Convention of BiH. We believe that the denial of the rights of mothers by proposing and developing the policies that shorten the length of maternity leave, in the situation that is already definitely unfavorable for them, is very disappointing and shameful.

Every political options, including the SDP, which works to the detriment of the rights of mothers represents, above all, the most serious form of violation of women’s rights that are definitely discriminated on the basis of residence and the sector in which they work.

It is already enough injustice and discrimination against women wich maternity benefits and the duration of maternity are depending on the canton in which they live, and some are completely deprived of the basic right to maternity pay.

Denial of the right of mothers to have a year of maternity leave, in a situation where the state has no services, no support mechanisms for working mothers, is unacceptable from the perspective of a representative of the Women’s Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina.