From Where I stand: “Working with people means everything to me”.

Selmir Hurić is an imam from Sanski Most, a small town in north-east Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He is among the first religious leaders in the country who joined a programme on the education and empowerment of imams, priests and religion teachers to recognize and fight domestic violence in their local communities.

I had no dilemma. I was always open on this issue, and I know every religion will help when it comes to eliminating any form of violence. No religion will preach to harm or spite another person.

Working with people means everything to me, and I see my job as a sort of mission. I have been doing this for 23 years, and I am in touch with people from the community 24 hours a day. I am available to them at any time – for the birth of a child, wedding, death, or any problem they might have. Sometimes that problem is domestic violence. Before the seminars I attended, the biggest challenge was to recognize the problem. I did not know some forms of violence constitute violence, but now I am learning and realizing that some seemingly “banal” things can lead to problems in one’s life.

Unfortunately, today, the public perceives that religious communities should not get involved in the issue of domestic violence because we are not competent. Maybe we aren’t competent sometimes, maybe we don’t have ways to help, but we are learning. I believe that religious communities have the capacity to be available and help organizations who are working on these issues more concretely. I believe these two things are inseparable.”

Selmir Hurić, imam at the majlis of Islamic Community of Sanski Most, is one of the participants of an educational programme for religious leaders in BiH. This programme is implemented by the Institute for Population and Development from Sarajevo and Peacebuilding Center from Sanski Most, with the financial support from Sweden and in cooperation with UN Women BiH. Hurić and dozens of imams, priests and religion teachers learned how to recognize and properly address cases of domestic violence in their local communities. The participants of the programme also developed manuals on how to prevent and respond to violence. The manual included an array of recommendations on how to include violence prevention into various areas of religious activities, such as lectures in places of worship or religion classes in school, and in this way contribute to quality education and strengthening gender equality.