Cornelia Maier

Are women in Kosova equal, safe and free yet?

Foreword by Ambassador Teuta Sahatqija

Dieses ebook wurde erstellt bei
Verlagslogo

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Titel

Introduction

Contributions to Kosovar democracy by women

Insufficient implementation of the law against domestic violence and its implications

Advocacy for improvements

Impressum neobooks

Introduction

Foreword by Ambassador Teuta Sahatqija
Can we say that women around the world have equal rights; they are free or even safe? There are places in the world where women are better represented in Parliaments, where women are Presidents of states, Prime Ministers, and Ministers; countries where there are a high percentage of women that own real estate, businesses, or have a satisfactory income. Unfortunately however, in the majority of cases, women’s position is not favorable across the world.

In most cases, there are very few women in leading positions, they are underrepresented in Parliaments and Governments, they are less paid than men, and they have much lower ownership of properties and businesses. Women are often main protagonists of grim news as victims of violence, be it domestic, social or as objects of sexual abuse during wars.

Women in Kosova are not different from their sisters around the world. Despite the context, they have achieved remarkable results in legislation and otherwise. President Atifete Jahjaga was the first woman in the entire region of the Balkans to be a head of state. Women within the Parliament as well as Municipal Assemblies make up more than 30% of the representatives. The Constitution and Legislation of Kosova are very modern and do not discriminate against women. On the other side however, women’s representation in leading positions is still far from being satisfactory whereas domestic and gender based violence are still at a vulnerable level.

Ms. Cornelia Maier is a feminist, a fighter for gender equality and a champion of women’s empowerment. She has a vast knowledge about the legislation, the Constitution and the legal possibilities that exist de jure in Kosova. She is also a realist and is objectively aware of the real situation on the ground, the statistics, obstacles and the de-facto situation that Kosovar society faces in everyday life.

Domestic violence is a subject that Cornelia is very passionate about. Dr. Maier significantly contributed to the amendment of the Law against domestic violence while she was working with the Gender Equality Agency of the Republic of Kosova and she is still very well connected to the Kosovar gender equality ecosystem, Civil Society organizations, Parliament, the Women’s Cross- Party Caucus, and all other stakeholders in this field.

In this document, she attempts at identifying the root causes responsible for this situation, exploring patriarchal society, lack of education, lack of economic independence or lack of self-esteem among women. While articulating the potential causes, she also lists recommendations and possible solutions.

Throughout this document, she emphasizes that it is not sufficient to just work with the immediate victims of domestic violence – it is imperative that the work is also focused on prevention and continuous assistance for survivors of domestic violence such that they progressively achieve economic independence and have opportunities so as not to return and live with their perpetrators under the same roof.

Dr. Maier describes the situation, setting the context through statements of many authors and public figures of Kosovar society, analyzing the sources of violence, society and its mentality, and the struggle of modern forces to change it and put an end to gender based violence. She interlinks the economic well-being of Kosovar Women with the level of domestic violence. Women who are economically independent are less prone to be victims of domestic violence. In many cases Kosovar society treats domestic violence as an internal family issue, giving the right to the husband to exert violence while at the same time blaming women for causing the violence.

This document holistically covers the efforts of feminists from the time of the oppression against Kosovar Albanians under the occupation of Milosevic’s regime, continuing through the war, the post-war period, the period Kosova was recovering from the wounds of war, rebuilding not only its infrastructure but building a new modern society. She heftily backs her story with documents, testimonials, and her personal experience working in legislation.

Ms. Maier speaks to the efforts to fight domestic violence, documenting the statements of various women activists, like Flora Brovina, a former prisoner of Serbia, and her work on women’s empowerment, continuing with activists such as myself, Vjosa Dobruna, Natasha Kandic, Sonja Biserko, Shehrije, Atifete Jahjaga, Feride Rushiti and many others.

Dr. Maier highlights many organizations, such as Kosova Women’s Network, Medica Mondiale, Medica Gjakova, all of which left a significant mark in Kosova’s journey towards women’s empowerment. Beyond that, the booklet delineates recommendations of the Women Cross-Party Caucus on preventing gender based violence and mechanisms for continuous and sustained work with survivors.

In a masterful way, Ms. Maier weaves the story of the building blocks and mechanisms that together make the system on fighting gender based and domestic violence.

Among the many stakeholders she interviews, Dr. Maier also highlights the discussions with Tahire Haxholli from Kosova’s Police describing her insights from the police’s perspective on dealing with immediate victims and perpetrators. As Kosova Women’s Network research shows, there is an alarming situation of domestic and gender based violence against women in Kosova whereby the more disquieting issue is that such violence is the least reported kind - giving perpetrators an open field for unpunished, unremitting abuse. Women’s unfavorable economic situation and lack of socio-economic prosperity are barriers that prevent them from breaking out of the cycle of violence.

Cornelia Maier’s book “Are women in Kosova equal, safe and free yet?” is definitely a valuable source of information about the actual situation, the analysis of historical and societal ties, and patriarchal mentality. Dr. Maier weaves a complete story, inclusive of stories of ex political prisoners, women activists during the occupation, those in modern institutions, the work of women organizations, and the achievements in the Constitution, such as CEDAW, quota in Parliament, Law on Gender Equality and many others.

Reading this book, you are taken through different stories in multiple dimensions, all of which complement each other and paint a clearer picture of the unique Kosova Story.

Congratulations to Dr. Maier on her valuable work and I look forward to more books in the future.

By Cornelia Maier:

Although the Constitution and the laws of Kosova (Albanian for Kosovo) are very democratic and progressive, including legislation against domestic violence on which I worked myself, the implementation is still insufficient. Women have the same rights under the law but the State of Kosova can’t protect them yet properly in actual fact. Of course, women’s rights are in theory protected under the Constitution, as pointed out, for example by “Kushtetuta ju mbron (The Constitution Protects You)”, a brochure which was published in 2008 by the Agency for Gender Equality, the Women’s Cross-Party Caucus (of the female Members of Parliament), the NDI and USAID (http://abgj.rks-gov.net/Portals/0/KUSHTETUTA%20JU%20MBRON.pdf), and that aimed to enlighten women about their human rights. Kosova has ratified CEDAW on the constitutional level and there are plans to include domestic violence under the penal code (http://www.womensnetwork.org/?FaqeID=1&n=668). However, of course, there is often times a huge difference between having a right as a natural birthright in terms of human rights and realizing that very right in actual fact. Patriarchy is particularly alive and (un)well in rural areas where old customs and traditions often make life extremely difficult for women. They are still frequently oppressed (see for example, also Patricia Evans on patriarchy and oppression in general in Patricia Evans 1996: The Verbally Abusive Relationship). All too often, there is little awareness that women’s rights are human rights. Victim blaming is viral and rampant and many women have internalized such notions and have come to collaborate with their own oppression and alas, with the suppression of other women and girls, too as they subscribe to the very dehumanizing ideas they actually suffer from on the other hand, too. The situation is alarming (cf., for example Kosova Women’s Network: Security begins at home / http://www.womensnetwork.org/documents/20130120165404373.pdf). As Teuta Sahatqija stated once during a talk she gave: “If a woman is able to respect herself first, she is able to respect other women. If she will not respect herself, how will she see another woman, parliamentarian, or director or other [sic]?” (http://nr.onu.edu/node/5365) It’s a vicious circle as abuse and violence in turn diminish and often destroy self-esteem (see for example, Patricia Evans 1993: Verbal Abuse Survivors Speak Out). That widespread basic lack of women’s positive self-concepts goes together with a frequent shortage of formal, professional and academic education. On average, it’s much more difficult for women who have other ideas than leading a traditional life-style in non-urban areas (even though I personally know of some positive examples from outside Prishtina as well, of course). But even if women who were abused or who are threatened by (more severe) domestic violence do get away from the countryside and flee to Prishtina, the capital of Kosova, the situation will prove extremely hard for women over there without sufficient money. Unemployment is very high and welfare is completely insufficient (Kosovo: Situation of single women in Pristina, including their ability to access employment, housing, and social services; whether Catholic Albanian women would face particular challenges accessing housing, employment and social services when relocating to Pristina from a different area of Kosovo (2013) / https://www.refworld.org/docid/5188f45d4.html). That’s why it’s so difficult for women to get free from domestic violence and abusive situations in general and why the State of Kosova can’t protect them yet properly from domestic violence (and other grievous abuse).

The adoption of the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence has been a milestone in the feminist history of the land (which will still have to be written yet, of course) and it is also relevant within the framework of EU standard harmonization.
On top of being a freelance translator, I am also a feminist political scientist and therefore, I worked personally on elaborating the bill. After having read on the website of the Kosova Women’s Network (KWN) that a new law against domestic violence would be drawn up, I got in touch by email with Ms. Shqipe Krasniqi, who was then CEO of the Gender Equality Agency in the Office of the Prime Minister (now Ms. Edi Gusia is in this position after Ms. Edona Hajrullahu succeeded Shqipe) and offered my contributions as a volunteer. After emailing several times back and forth, we talked for the first time on the phone. I was so happy on that day. The world seemed wide open and full of unlimited possibilities. It was absolutely a highlight for me when we discussed our plans for the first time. I emailed her my recommendations for the draft law over in English, which were all made part of the bill including the following: The law is worded in gender-neutral language. Survivors can obtain protection orders also with regard to offenders who are family members (also from their families of origin), not just with respect to husbands and in-laws. Emotional abuse and intimidation and duress and coercive control are grounds for protection orders as well. It is possible for survivors to file for emergency protection orders, too. And it’s illegal under penal law to offend against a protection order. The police needs to advise survivors of their rights and help them get their stuff out of the house / apartment and take abused women to a shelter (Law No.03/L 182

ON PROTECTION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE / http://www.assembly-kosova.org/common/docs/ligjet/2010-182-eng.pdf).
The problem lies with the implementation of the law. Above all, there should be done more to support survivors in terms of public assistance as soon as better welfare will be established. Actually, when I was working on the law against domestic violence in Kosova, I encouraged Shqipe to make sure that a provision like Article 27 of the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence be included for subsequent legislation so that something would be done to provide survivors with assistance in the future. That would have to be done later on since otherwise, the law wouldn’t even have been adopted in the first place. Unfortunately, nothing has been achieved on that front so far for several years yet. As the Ombudsperson Institution also wrote, "there is a pressing need to elaborate survivors' rights under" this Article (Ombudsperson Institution 2016: Sexual and reproductive rights in Kosovo: A Reality beyond the Law?) and that’s where matters still stand. I will deal with the grave consequences of that more in detail in the chapter on insufficient implementation.

Contributions to Kosovar democracy by women

With high hopes, Kosova (Albanian for Kosovo) had been liberated from Milosevic in 1999 thanks to the NATO intervention. The country declared its independence in 2008. Women had also been contributing in numerous ways to the newest democracy of Europe. Before Kosova became a free country, they had participated both in peaceful and armed resistance. For example, Dr. Flora Brovina was pioneering in her efforts. She is an MD, a poet and an author. In a book with her poems she gave me, she quoted a poet stating “Fatin nuk e nenshkruaj”, “I won’t sign up to fate” and she most definitely wouldn’t sign up to oppression as sort of bad destiny in any way either. Doktoresha (Dr.) Flora was among the first doctors to get fired from her job. But she continued to work in her vocation and help people, including school children who had been poisoned by toxic gas. Before the outbreak of open war, she organized many (women’s) demonstrations against war, violence, dictatorship and Kosovar young men being drafted into Milosevic’s army. Then, she became even more active in the resistance for the liberation and treated both civilians and UCK soldiers as a doctor and taught people first aid. She set up field hospitals and a center for women and children where she helped women and children from the war zone after she had decided to stay in Kosova to help people and thus, to participate in the resistance. She also collected evidence on human rights abuses against women. Unfortunately, she was caught and she spent more than one year in prison where she was tortured by Milosevic’s henchmen. Thank Goodness, she survived and was finally released due to public international pressure. She stated that she was a freedom fighter and advocated that people look forward and focus on the reconstruction and democratization of Kosova instead of holding on to hatred and past grudges. She has been working together with Natasha Kandic and Sonja Biserko, who have the outstanding courage and democratic integrity to advocate in public for the independence of Kosova even though they are from Serbia. If the stance of these two brave ladies was more widespread where they come from, cooperation between Serbia and Kosova would be much easier, which would also considerably help the endeavors for EU standard harmonization in turn! Dr. Flora has also been working together with women’s groups and female Members of Parliament from neighboring Balkan countries, which is also a worthwhile contribution in the light of international cooperation and EU standard harmonization. Flora Brovina joined the PDK and was the first woman to run for President of Kosova. With the support of Madeleine Albright, Flora Brovina and Teuta Sahatqija founded the Women’s Cross-Party Caucus in Parliament. Life had often challenged Dr. Flora and yet, she would not give up (I know all that from an interview with her on Facebook). While she was personally less active on the issue of domestic violence, she always had been a pioneer who had cleared the way for other women and their activities. And in 2009 she did explicitly speak up for the law against domestic violence (http://www.kuvendikosoves.org/?cid=1,128,2149).
Vjosa Dobruna, who would become the Ambassador of Kosova to The Hague, was also among the first doctors who were dismissed from their jobs. She was very active in human rights activities and the civil society and she stood up for women’s human rights and against domestic violence. She had founded the Center for the Protection of Women and Children in Prishtina and the shelter in Gjakova, which assisted women and enlightened them about their basic human rights. She also helped many people who had been gravely victimized by Milosevic’s henchmen, for example on massacre sites and collected evidence of human rights violations. Additionally, she worked internationally on women’s rights and human rights in general and participated in the World Conference on Women in Beijing. She even warned Swanee Hunt, who was US Ambassador to Austria at the time, about the impending human rights catastrophe in Kosova under Milosevic. Vjosa is also friends with Natasha Kandic. After she got deported to Macedonia, she continued her humanitarian work over there and went on to help women and children. Vjosa also advocated for NATO intervention. After the liberation of Kosova, she was so happy she thought the aims of her very life had been achieved. But there was more to her life than just that. She became Minister for Human Rights and Democratization. There, she also got affirmative action established for women in Parliament. She also worked on including human rights and dignity as well under the preamble of the Constitution of Kosova. Later on, she became an Ambassador of Kosova (http://oralhistorykosovo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Vjosa-Dobruna-eng.docx.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3dKtQGCEdP0mtt4Cd8LvkG4q8eu4Y-GlXneCljMPDbHVuBF0ITyg6MlZc). First, she was Ambassador at-large to Latin American countries and then she was Ambassador to the Netherlands. She also spoke out for women’s economic independence (also from DV offenders) and her stance on not caring about rumors either is courageous and undaunted, too. As she told me during our meeting in 2013: “Rumors – who cares about that?!” Of course, I agree. That’s a very important point, even more so in Kosova. Vjosa also wrote me that she congratulated me on my work to help women’s rights and that she really believed in it and that she had always been active in feminist politics for women’s rights herself. She had the courage to state in public that she was a feminist: “Yes, I consider myself a feminist, but without going into the definition of feminism. I do not want to make it difficult as an academic session. I believe I am a feminist and I feel good in my own skin as a woman. I believe that I do not have any limits regarding what I want to do as a woman. I personally do not have any limits just because I am a woman. So, I feel good in my own skin. I expect also from other women to feel good in their own skin. This is feminism! Also, when something is denied because they are women, I expect for them to fight. We do not have to wait for others. On the contrary, we have to take our own responsibilities. In this context, I am a feminist. I am not a feminist in the context that women are against men. I am not against men, I am not. I believe in equality…My feminism is liberal, is postmodern, it is not a

radical feminism. It is more difficult than in other places, but it is possible and you can say so, I say it publicly every time I am asked, also in [TV] shows, I say yes “I am a feminist.” I elaborated this way, it depends on how the journalist puts the question, but basically this is it. Basically, with very simple words, I am a woman and feel good in my own skin. And I fight for all women to have the same opportunities and feel good in their own skin or their own

gender…” (http://oralhistorykosovo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Vjosa-Dobruna-eng.docx.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3dKtQGCEdP0mtt4Cd8LvkG4q8eu4Y-GlXneCljMPDbHVuBF0ITyg6MlZc).

To me, feminism is basically above all about advocacy for women’s equal human rights and their freedom under true democracy. So, I am very happy to call myself a feminist. Feminist politics for gender equality and protection from violence are most definitely part of modern democracy. Naomi Wolf also stated in “Fire with Fire / New Female Power and How It Will Change the Twenty-First Century”: “Whatever feminism is to you, to me it is at heart the logical extension of democracy.” (Wolf 1993)
Actually I guess I am mostly what is referred to as a liberal feminist but I likewise advocate getting down to the very roots of patriarchy in order to overthrow and stop it and accordingly, to make sure oppression must come to a halt, which might probably also be called somehow a radical position as the word radical stems from radix, the Latin word for root.
Anyway, Vjosa told me she would have been happy to work on the law against domestic violence had she been invited. However, she trained and prepared “Igo (Rogova) and the girls” on their activities in this context. And she let me know when we met that the policy of the shelter in Gjakova furthered the economic empowerment of the survivors (interview with Vjosa). She also stated that she was hoping for a more social state (Vjosa Dobruna / http://oralhistorykosovo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Vjosa-Dobruna-eng.