{"id":3369452,"date":"2026-08-29T20:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/?p=3369452"},"modified":"2026-08-29T20:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:52:23","slug":"kwn-preventing-violence-must-begin-before-it-becomes-femicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/kwn-preventing-violence-must-begin-before-it-becomes-femicide\/","title":{"rendered":"KWN: Preventing Violence Must Begin Before It Becomes Femicide\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Within just a few days, at the end of August, two women were killed in Kosovo by their husbands. In Malisheva, a 25-year-old pregnant woman<\/a> lost her life after being found injured, while her husband was suspected of the killing. He also died several days later. Just a few days afterwards, an 80-year-old woman in Prizren<\/a> was also killed, with her husband identified as the suspect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two shocking killings were followed by a protest called by the Feminist Collective for Thought and Action, which was also joined by the Kosovo Women\u2019s Network (KWN), calling on institutions to act before violence escalates and results in loss of life.<\/a> At the protest, KWN called for more social workers to actively monitor women at risk, better monitoring and handling of violence cases, timely intervention, and greater support for women who survive violence. KWN also called for rental assistance for women leaving abusive relationships, sustainable financing for social services, and measures to ensure that women are not left to face perpetrators alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two cases once again demonstrate that women continue to face serious risks in spaces where they should feel safest. Following the tragic case in Malisheva, KWN called for a full, independent and swift investigation, while following the case in Prizren, it reiterated its call for a thorough investigation and accountability. However, KWN stressed that responding only after a woman has lost her life is not enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prevention requires institutions to act much earlier: through detailed risk assessments, effective implementation of protection orders, monitoring of perpetrators, and cooperation between the police, prosecution, courts and social services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to Klan Kosova<\/a>, Adelina Berisha, Director of KWN\u2019s Gender-Based Violence Programme, stressed that society and institutions must not respond only when violence results in loss of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are responding after a life has been lost. We do not talk on a daily basis about how harmful violence is, how harmful gender discrimination is, or how harmful gender inequality is,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berisha stressed that prevention should begin in childhood through education on equal treatment, while society should pay greater attention to language and behaviours that normalise misogyny and violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we tolerate violence on a daily basis, we should not be surprised when the most tragic outcome occurs,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement to Radio Free Europe<\/a>, KWN stressed that women are losing their lives and that the state is still failing to protect them effectively. According to KWN, these cases cannot be treated as isolated incidents, but rather point to deeper problems in how violence against women is prevented and addressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

KWN also recalled the case of Hamide Magashi, who was pregnant and had an active protection order when she was killed by her husband. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a woman who has sought protection from the state and has an active protection order can still lose her life, then where is the system failing?\u201d KWN asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Radio Television 21<\/a>, Berisha also spoke about the need to avoid explanations that minimise or excuse violence rather than helping to prevent it. Speaking to T7<\/a>, she also highlighted the role of patriarchal attitudes in violence against women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are talking about men who believe they have power, misuse that power, and kill and abuse the women in their lives,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortuna Shkodra Haliti,<\/a> KWN\u2019s Public Relations Manager, spoke on KTV, stressing that these are not isolated incidents, but indicators of systemic failures in preventing and addressing violence against women. She also highlighted concerns about low sentences in domestic violence cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berisha, speaking on TV Dukagjini<\/a>, stressed that the lives of women and girls continue to be at risk and that action must be taken before it is too late. She also raised concerns about cases where there is no known history of violence and about failures across the institutional response chain in reported cases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Melisa Kadolli,<\/a> KWN\u2019s Legal Coordinator and Judicial Monitor, said on RTK that it is still unclear which mechanisms failed in these specific cases, but that they raise serious concerns about whether the state is effectively protecting women and girls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With two women losing their lives within just a few days, KWN stresses that another tragedy cannot be awaited before once again discussing the need for action. Women\u2019s lives cannot be protected only after they are lost. Prevention must happen before violence escalates and before it is too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

KWN calls on institutions to take concrete, urgent and coordinated steps to prevent violence against women, protect survivors, and ensure their safety. Investigations into both cases must be thorough, independent and swift, and those responsible must be held accountable before the law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

KWN will continue to closely monitor these cases and institutional developments related to them, calling for the protection of women to go beyond laws and statements and be implemented in practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are experiencing gender-based violence, or know someone who is, KWN offers free legal counselling at 048 105 800<\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within just a few days, at the end of August, two women were killed in Kosovo by their husbands. In Malisheva, a 25-year-old pregnant woman lost her life after being found injured, while her husband was suspected of the killing. He also died several days later. Just a few days afterwards, an 80-year-old woman in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3369448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3369452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3369452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3369453,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369452\/revisions\/3369453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3369448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3369452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3369452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensnetwork.org\/sr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3369452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}