Today, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) participated in the conference “Women, Peace, and Security: Addressing New Threats through Regional Cooperation”, organised by the Regional Center of Excellence for Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo, established by the Office of the President of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E. Vjosa Osmani.

Besarta Breznica, Program Officer for Addressing Gender-based Violence, took part in the panel “Regional Approaches to Preventing Gender-based Violence in Southeast Europe”. She presented the challenges institutions face in implementing legislation, including insufficient budget, staff and institutional infrastructure.

Further, she stated that justice institutions still struggle to enforce laws due to patriarchal and traditional mindsets.

“Justice institutions often fail to adequately assess risks in domestic violence cases, produce weak indictments and judges continue to issue very lenient sentences for offenders.”

The drafting process of the State Protocol for the Treatment of Cases of Sexual Violence was mentioned as a positive example of cooperation between local organisations, international partners and state institutions. Other positive examples included numerous awareness campaigns continuously organised by women’s rights organisations and the provision of free legal aid for all victims of gender-based violence.

Finally, long-standing cooperation with organisations from the Western Balkans was commended, particularly their joint efforts in conducting research and providing free legal aid.