Kosovo law on women’s property rights is very advanced, but its non-implementation in the practice is an issue, participants in a debate organized in EU Info Centre in Mitrovica North agreed, Kontakt plus radio reported.

Ruzica Simic, Director of NGO “Zensko parvo” said women in accordance with the law, have equal rights to property, however, traditional narratives represent a great obstacle in the implementation of the law.

Durata Prokshi, an activist from Mitrovica South said much is being told about women’s rights, however no real change can be observed on the ground.

“Despite persistence of the international community to respect equal quota representation of both men and women, the position of women is still jeopardized in our society,” Prokshi said.

She also warned that women make only 16 percent of registered property owners and more should be done in order to change it.

Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture (ACDC) Programme Director, Srdjan Simonovic said awareness among women is not at a high level, and more should be done in order to raise awareness among the women about property rights, starting from an early childhood. He also added everything starts from the family, respectively parents.

Simonovic also presented data from a research on female inheritance rights, ACDC conducted in 2017, related to 52 cases in which women inherited properties.

“Women accepted inheritance in 24 cases, which is 46 percent, but you have to bear in mind women were the only successors in most of the cases. In 26 cases, respectively 56 percent, women did not accept inheritance, although they were the successors of the first line, meaning they had a brother. So 50 percent of the women renounced the properties to the benefits of their brothers. What is concerning is there are two cases in which women renounced the inheritance to the benefits of persons who were in the second line of inheritance rights. They renounced the inheritance not to the benefits of their brothers, but some uncles or relatives who were not in the first inheritance line,” Simonovic said.

The debate organized in EU Info Centre is supported by UNMIK and implemented by NGOs “Zensko pravo” from Mitrovica North and “Mundesia” from Mitrovica South.