Gender in/Equality in Nation-Building: The Breakup of Yugoslavia and the Cases of Serbia and Kosovo

The ethnic conflict in Yugoslavia was manifested with the rape of women. Rape has been used as the strongest weapon by nationalist forces where the women’s body has been used as a target to fight the enemy. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the “other” was not just based on ethnic identity, but also gendered and sexualized. However, the nationalism between Kosovo and Serbia were core of the conflict in Yugoslavia, which continued even after the conflict. In Serbian history the “other” has generally always been the Albanians, who were described as uncivilized, Easter. For Albanians, “the other” was not only Serbians but the “Slavs” in general who were described as barbarians and oppressors. The brutality of the ethnic conflicts in Yugoslavia shows how ethnic hatred has been provoked in order to construct the new frontiers between the other states. Nevertheless, the assumption of entering the democratic state did not change the role of women in society significantly. It is noticeable that in the post conflict societies there is a need to go back to the traditional values. After the breakup of Yugoslavia in both Serbia and Kosovo societies there was an apparent need to rebuild the nation, which was based on the traditional values of these two respective countries.