The massacre by the Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 was the worst episodes of war in Europe since the Second World War. 8000 Muslim men and teenage boys were massacred. The UN war crimes tribunal in La Hague describes the massacre as a genocide (April 2004).
The women of Srebrenica were witnesses of this tragedy. In Potocari, the Serb forces segregated the civilian population into a group of men and teenage boys, and a group of women and children. Some young girls were taken away, and they never returned. After two nights, women and children were forced into trucks. Men were found later with their throats slit.
Thousands of Bosnian women are still searching for their sons, husbands, and other Relatives. And they are all waiting for the day when the remains of their loved ones will be found. Finally, they will start the process of mourning.
These women were greatly traumatized during the 1992-1995 war by constant exposure to violence. After the war ended their traumas become obvious. The effects of stress began manifesting themselves as a loss of self-confidence, poor concentration, disturbed sleep, nightmares and the reliving of traumatic experience. Many are suffering from depression, withdrawal and have contemplated suicide.
Biography
Eleonore Sok is a French-Cambodian multimedia storyteller. She has settled down in Cambodia in 2015 and has been working as a correspondent for foreign media while developing personal projects. She has made a series of video about Cambodian emerging artists called Swinging Phnom Penh. She has been immersing herself in photography with the Phnom Penh Studio Image in 2015 and 2016, and she has joined the last Angkor Photo Festival’s workshop in 2017. She is currently writing a book about Cambodia. In her images, she explores the questions of identity, origins, family, and relationships.