Women sexually assaulted during Kosovo's war have been battling for recognition for nearly two decades. Now they’re on the brink of getting it – but to do so, they’ll have to overcome years of stigma.
BY KRISTEN CHICK-FEBRUARY 22, 2016
DRENAS, Kosovo — For nearly 17 years, K.T. has been living with a secret. In 1999, during the conflict in Kosovo, she was gang raped by Serbian forces.
When her son found out, she says, he had a question for her: “Why didn’t you ask them to kill you instead?”
If that was the reaction of her own family, what would the neighbors say? Fearing the humiliation, she suffered in silence. She says she tried to commit suicide. When she talks about that day, she still sometimes says it would have been better if she had been killed.
Thousands of survivors of the wartime sexual violence in Kosovo that took place when Serbia fought against an independence movement here in the late 1990s still suffer from stigma like K.T.. So it was a significant step when the country’s parliament moved in 2014 to recognize them as war victims, entitling them to a state pension, after years of refusing to acknowledge them. Nearly two years later, the government is expected to soon form the commission that will begin accepting applications.
The country is trying to avoid many of the stumbles that hindered similar laws in nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina, where poor design and implementation meant only a fraction of the victims were recognized and compensated. Kosovo officials spent more than a year designing an application and verification process that is — on paper — confidential, sensitive, and accessible. They consulted survivors, local organizations that work with victims, international experts, and representatives from Bosnia. The result has been roundly praised by local advocates who work with survivors.
