“Marriage is traditionally the destiny offered to women by society,” wrote Simone de Beauvoir in her 1949 treatise The Other Sex. Seventy-two years later and many women continue to face social pressure forcing them to decide: family or career?
Merjem Hamzić is a young entrepreneur who decided to give up her job in the banking sector for one in a chocolate workshop. She and her husband founded “Bashka chocolate,” their own homemade brand. She says that the idea for the shop sprang from a combination of her husband’s love of chocolate and her creativity and imagination.
The three of them show strength, desire, and great business initiative. Erna Šošević, founder and CEO of Bizbook.ba, Samra Bešlija-Ašćerić, Doctor of Dental Medicine, and Ajla Aljić, founder of the Doolzee brand, are successful business owners who stand as a prime example of women's entrepreneurship in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Daut Tihic, a former soldier of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dane Vasic, a former soldier of the Republika Srpska Army, met on the Skelani frontlines near Srebrenica in the fall of 1992. Daut shot Dane and, for 14 years, lived with the belief that he had killed him. That was until they met again and under completely different circumstances.
It isn’t easy being a woman in today’s world, but the increasing differences in the treatment of women and men have a significant impact on the statistics on women’s employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Super Women” is a Zvornik-based, socially-responsible business that provides professional cleaning services while also working to employ women over the age of 40, who have lower levels of education and little to no formal work experience.