8/12/2022
KCSS has organized a meeting with women and representatives of institutions, in the Municipality of Skenderaj, in cooperation with the Office for Gender Equality of this municipality, within the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
In this meeting, the participating women had the opportunity to talk with representatives of the Kosovo Police, Civil Society and feminist activists of this municipality, the Safehouse, the Center for Social Work, the Ombudsperson, and representatives of this Municipality, regarding the security challenges that women have, with special emphasis on gender-based violence.
This municipality's police representatives indicated their preparedness and prioritization to handle all incidents of domestic violence. The Police Department and the Office for Gender Equality also urged participants to report any cases of violence.
One of the issues raised at the conference was the unequal distribution of property for both genders, as women in this municipality had far less rights to inheritance than men. This also has an impact on women's economic independence, which makes reintegration into society difficult in situations of domestic violence.
The other issue is the patriarchal and prejudiced mindset that determines "gender roles." According to the participants, the issue and discrimination for women and girls begins at birth, when they are treated differently than men. This was deemed concerning, and the municipality and civil society were requested to do more to raise awareness.
Civil society and women urged the municipality to have more budget hearings before approving the budget, to reflect the interests of this municipality's women, and to allocate more budget resources to addressing their security concerns.
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) is supported by the program of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) 'EJA Kosovo', co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Sweden and the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
