During the months of August and September, the civil society organizations, supported by the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), have organized several protests in several municipalities of Kosovo.
The first protest was organized in Gjakova, after the last case of domestic violence that had a tragic end and in which a woman and a child were killed. According to media reports, the murder has occurred in Brekoc of Gjakova, where the killer, having threatened the victim, a 40-year-old woman, on the phone first, has gone to her home and killed her and her 9-year-old daughter. The same was the husband of the 40-year-old woman.
According to KWN sources, the murderer had been held in detention before (in May 2018) for domestic violence against the late under the charge of criminal offence of “Light Bodily Injury”. Kosovo police were aware of his criminal background, and the court has released him after a month in detention. According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, the minimum sentence provided for this criminal offence is 3 months to 5 years of imprisonment. His release has resulted in the murder of the woman and the girl. KWN believes that had the same been convicted in advance, we would not be writing this response today and a woman and a child would still be alive. On the day of the murder, the late has warned the police of the threats that she had already received from her killer, but, as reported in the media, the police have failed to get hold of him.
Angered by the irresponsibility of the law and order authorities, concerned about the indifference to the lives of women and girls in our country, horrified by the macabre killings of women and girls in Kosovo, protests were organized to say #Boll [Enough] to the violence against women and girls in Prishtina, Ferizaj, Vushtrri, Kaçanik, Gjilan and Prizren, in which hundreds and thousands of citizens from all over Kosovo have taken part.
Through these protests, the society has demanded an impartial and objective inquiry into the cases of violence against and killings of women, a meritorious punishment for the murderers and an institutional responsibility in relation to the handling of cases of domestic violence and violence and killings of women in general.
The KWN has through the media conveyed the message: “It is high time for us to react against the killers of women and girls”. It is more than important to bring perpetrators to justice. It is more than important for responsible institutions and individuals acting in these institutions to get the proper punishment from the society. Moral punishment and legal punishment for the defenders of murderers, for the keepers of a patriarchal order, for whom the lives of women and girls have no value.”