SARAJEVO -- After the death of her husband in Ivory Coast, Bintou faced pressure to marry off her daughter against her wishes. Determined to protect her daughter, she fled to Libya with her two eldest daughters, leaving her younger children behind.
However, her journey took a harrowing turn as she was arrested and imprisoned in Libya. After escaping, she worked for a man who withheld her wages. Eventually, he took her to the coast, from where she set off on a perilous sea journey.
Her story and those of other women rescued by the Geo Barents, a search-and-rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean since 2021, are being presented in a new gallery exhibit at the Memory Module in Sarajevo, a program within the MESS Theater Festival that works to preserve the memory of the tragic past of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as highlighting artworks that deal with current events.
Bintou and her daughter Miriam
"People are crossing the Mediterranean because what they are experiencing in their countries is tragic," says Stefan Pejovic from Doctors Without Borders in the message that opened the Sarajevo exhibition called Tales Of Women At Sea.
According to Pejovic, since 2015 his organization has rescued 92,000 people from the Mediterranean Sea, the same migratory route that the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants project has called the world's deadliest. Nearly 11,000 have been rescued by the Geo Barents.
Though women comprise only 10 percent of those rescued by the Geo Barents, the exhibition aims to empower these survivors and amplify their struggle for a better life.
"Their experiences are tragic. I don't think people can understand what it is that makes people leave their countries," Pejovic said.
"One mother was forced to leave her 2-year-old daughter in the Sahara because the girl got sick and died on the way. The group continued on because they couldn't do anything else," Pejovic said during a pretaped video message from aboard the ship that was presented at the exhibit's opening.
"We want people to understand what is happening in the central Mediterranean and what kind of hell [these people] are going through," Pejovic adds.
"The women we talk to cite poverty, but also forced marriages, genital mutilation. Their daughters are also exposed to these practices, which is tragic," says Stefan Pejovic from Doctors Without Borders.
The Sea Of Sorrow
In the past decade, over 28,000 deaths have been documented in the Mediterranean, a somber reality of the difficulties faced by migrants. Women, in particular, are particularly vulnerable to gender discrimination and the pervasive threat of gender-based violence.
According to data from the IOM, 2023 marked the deadliest year for migrants in the last decade, with 8,541 recorded deaths. This grim statistic was partly attributed to a significant rise in fatalities in the Mediterranean Sea.
A woman reads a short story from one of the survivors rescued at sea.
Saved From The Seas
Christelle, a Cameroonian, is another woman who was saved from the sea. The mother of three fled her violent husband and took a job selling bananas. One day, as she was traveling to work, she was abducted by Boko Haram militants, who took her to Nigeria. She is one of the lucky ones who is now able to tell her story.
Nihad Kresevljakovic, director of the MESS festival, said that beyond the inherent dangers faced by all individuals undertaking these perilous journeys in search of freedom, it is women who must endure the additional hardships along the way.
"This exhibition is actually to draw attention to the experiences of women," he said.
Nihad Kresevljakovic, director of the MESS festival
He adds, "This event aligns with the Memory Module's mission: fostering compassion and empathy for those enduring hardships in pursuit of freedom and highlighting the challenges they face due to the obstruction of certain countries."
When Bintou (pictured above) was 17 years old, she fled her native Guinea in order to avoid being forced into marriage. She failed at her first attempt to cross the Mediterranean. She is grateful to have been rescued.
The exhibit features photos of women and children after their rescue at sea.
One of the photos captured aboard the Geo Barents shows participants in an awareness-raising discussion on violence against women led by a psychologist.
During the session, the psychologist explains the different forms of violence (psychological, physical, and sexual) and informs women about the different services they can get in order to protect themselves from violence, human trafficking, and female genital mutilation.
A photograph of Bintou, Derichelle, and Salimatou
"I would like my children to grow up and become somebody. My own childhood was marked by adversity. My mother, who was blind, struggled to raise 15 children, of whom only three survived. As the sole daughter, I was forcibly married off. I don't want my girls to live my fate," Bintou said.
The exhibit, Tales Of Women At Sea, will run through May 9 at the Preporod Gallery in Sarajevo.