Not just women and girls: the impact of the gender binary distinction on male gender-based violence in the Balkan context

Abstract

This dissertation explores the inaccurate and harmful exclusion of male victimization in gender-based violence and its impact on male survivors, using secondary sources analyzing the wars of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s through social and cultural discourse analysis. By recounting the lack of institutional and medical resources available to male survivors, this project highlights the need for a comprehensive survivor-centered approach to survivor treatment and public policy. Through a gender-sensitive understanding of victimization and gender-based violence, justice and adequate assistance can be provided to all survivors.