Zorana Simeunović: I was assaulted before I turned 14

Serbian singer Zorana Simeunović, 32, who first reached a wider audience during the music competition Zvezde Granda, has in recent years focused on family life, her music and charity work. But she has not hidden the traumatic episodes of her childhood: the early death of her father, time in institutional care and a sexual assault she has spoken about publicly.

From a fragile childhood to a family and a music career

Zorana has repeatedly described her past in interviews, saying she does not tell those details to attract pity but to show that a difficult start does not have to define a person’s whole life. She also shared that she battled anorexia and that she married composer Stevan Simeunović, who is thirty years her senior. The couple have been together since 2019 and became parents to a daughter in 2024.

On a television appearance with host Ognjen Amidžić, Zorana recounted how her relationship with Stevan began. She says she went to him for musical reasons — hoping to record a duet with Saša Matić — and even brought an envelope with money to pay for the song. According to her account, the meeting took an unexpected turn when Stevan conditioned the recording on her marrying him.

She told the audience how he won her over with the words: "I understand you, you are young and beautiful, and while you are under my roof you will lack nothing. You will not be hungry or thirsty, you will sleep peacefully," and that promise helped persuade her.

Zorana’s childhood was marked by loss and difficult relationships. Her father died when he was only 29, and after his death her mother remarried. Zorana says she was not accepted by her stepfather and at under 14 years old she was placed in a children’s home. It was during those years, she later revealed, that she became a victim of sexual violence — an experience she says changed her view of the world: "At that time I had not yet turned 14. You are a child, but your perception of life changes. Overnight you grow up, you are no longer a child and you see things differently."

After leaving the children’s home she spent time in a reception center and, once she turned 18, began singing and supporting herself. The singer also described a broken relationship with her mother, saying their contact was cut and that at one point her mother did not want to see her. They were able to meet again about a month before her mother’s death, an encounter in which Zorana said she managed to forgive her: "My mother did not want us to have contact. When she died I did not cry because she was dead, but because I had lost the possibility of having the mother every child deserves."

Today Zorana is a wife and mother, continues to perform and dedicates part of her time to charity, especially projects for children. By speaking openly about her history — from the death of her father and institutional care to sexual violence and a strained relationship with her mother — she says she hopes her story can give strength to others who have endured similar traumas.

Photo: press material from the event