Every third woman in Kosovo is subjected to domestic violence, UN Women in Kosovo Director, Flora Macula said today during debate in Media Centre in Caglavica. Police said there are 1269 domestic violence cases reported last year, and five cases ended tragically.

628 cases in which women were the victims were reported in the first half of the year. Out of this number, 78 cases happened in the Serb-populated areas. Kosovo police representative Tahire Haxholli said during the conference that Serb women, victims of domestic violence address more often institutions during the last years, but the main issue is non-reporting the abusers. “Reasons are various, some do not believe institutions, some feel ashamed, and there are those believing the problem would resolve. In most cases, women are economically dependent, and in some cases they do not report violence because of their children,” Haxholli added. Gordana Djoric, Chairperson of Avenija NGO thinks that the judiciary failed in cases of domestic violence against women. “There is a gap in the judicial system, and perpetrators are either getting minimal sentences or find a connection so their case is closed without punishment. This creates mistrust among victims, and if a woman is economically dependent, she goes back to the abuser,” Djoric said. Macula added Kosovo has a good legal framework on the rights of women, however the situation in reality is different, and every third woman is subjected to some type of violence. There are six shelters for the victims of violence in Kosovo. All these shelters are in Albanian-populated areas. The safe house was completed recently in Novo Brdo municipality; however, it has not started to work yet. There is also an initiative to build a safe house in the north of Kosovo, Macula added, KIM radio reported.