In many communities across Kosovo, conversations about mental and sexual health are still surrounded by silence, especially for women and girls from non-majority groups. For Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Lipjan, access to essential information and support on these issues has long been lacking. Stigma, economic hardship and limited access to healthcare have only deepened barriers.
More than 236 women and girls from Lipjan’s non-majority communities, including Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Bosniak, Croatian and Serbian women, came together in spaces where they could finally speak freely, ask questions and begin healing. Organised by the Women’s Alliance for Integration (WAI), these spaces were part of a broader initiative to raise awareness about the importance of mental and sexual health.
The Pain Behind the Silence
For many women, simply attending the sessions was a radical act. The initiative offered 12 workshops covering topics that many participants had never discussed before: postpartum depression, anxiety, antenatal stress, hygienic practices, sexual health rights and how to access local services. But more than just information, the sessions created emotional release. During one of the first meditation exercises, over 50 women began to cry.
“I never knew what I was feeling had a name,” said one participant, a young Ashkali mother from Gadime. “When I heard the psychologist talk about depression after childbirth, I realized: that’s what I went through. And no one had told me it was real, or that it could be treated.”
Another woman added:
“This was the first time someone sat with us, listened to us and told us our feelings matter.”
Facing Challenges, Demanding Better
Throughout the sessions, women shared deeply personal stories of discrimination and neglect in public health institutions, from being denied services unless they paid under the table, to enduring unsanitary conditions and stigma from healthcare workers. WAI documented five formal complaints and worked with local health authorities, including Lipjan’s Family Medicine Centre and the Council for Patient Care, to ensure these issues were heard.
Alongside the in-person sessions, WAI organised an awareness campaign reaching over 33,000 people online and 300 families door-to-door, offering brochures in diverse languages with accessible information about mental and reproductive health.
WAI also met with senior health officials from the Ministry of Health, advocating for concrete improvements: free access to sanitary products in clinics, tax removal on hygiene items, and increased mobile health services in rural areas. These conversations, backed by the voices of dozens of local women, began opening long-closed doors.
A Step Toward Lasting Change
While the initiative lasted only three months, the change it sparked continues to ripple. For many women, it was the first time they learned how to access health care, understood their rights, or had someone to speak to about their struggles. For others, it marked the beginning of their role as advocates, not just for themselves, but for their daughters, neighbours and communities.
“Before, we thought being sick was just our fate,” said an elderly Roma woman from Medvec. “Now we know we can speak up and that someone is finally listening.”
WAI’s initiative “Mobilising Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian women and girls for their mental and sexual health rights” was carried out with support from the Kosovo Women’s Network’s (KWN) Kosovo Women’s Fund (KWF), financed by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and co-financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), in the amount of €5,000, from June to August 2023. The initiative contributed directly to KWN’s Programme “Right to Health”.
