Violence against women is a recurring theme in Europe’s youngest state. Women’s rights activists accuse the government of not taking the problem seriously.
“Murders of women are announced murders”. Demonstrators in Pristina are calling for more decisive action against violence against women.
If Hamide Magashi were still alive, she would be a mother. The heavily pregnant woman was in the university clinic in the Kosovar capital Pristina last Wednesday to prepare for the imminent birth of her first child.
But when the 35-year-old stepped out of the hospital building in the evening, she was hit by several bullets. Neither the expectant mother nor the unborn child could be saved. Everything points to Magashi’s husband being the culprit. When the police wanted to arrest him on Friday, he took his own life.
Ineffective ban on contact
In less than a week, this was the second murder of a woman by her husband in Kosovo. Just five days before Magashi was shot dead, a 70-year-old man killed his wife with an ax in Pristina.
The deadly violence against women has made waves in the country. The day after the second murder, protests broke out in Pristina. Women’s rights organizations demanded that violence against women be treated as a national emergency.
The criticism also hit the authorities. Hamide Magashi had already brought charges against her violent husband in the summer. In September, a court in the provincial city of Ferizaj in the south of the country issued an injunction prohibiting her husband from approaching his wife.
At that time, Magashi was again living in her parents’ house. She refused to be placed in a shelter for victims of domestic violence. Two weeks after the ban was imposed, Magashi’s husband was also fined for illegal possession of a firearm. Nevertheless, he managed to approach his wife with a gun.
Lack of prevention, too mild penalties
Kosovo’s head of government, Albin Kurti, called for the incident to be fully clarified. All those responsible must be held accountable. Four police officers were suspended from duty on Sunday. Earlier, Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu described the murder of Magashi and her unborn child as a result of institutional irresponsibility.
The demonstrative determination is no accident. Kurti always described the fight against corruption and official inefficiency as a priority of his politics. Like the young head of state Vjosa Osmani, the head of government claims to represent a modern, progressive Kosovo. The proportion of women in Parliament is higher than ever.
However, this is hardly reflected in the way the authorities deal with domestic violence or violence directed against women in general, organizations that campaign for the rule of law and human rights have been criticizing for a long time. Last week’s protests were not the first of their kind. In addition to prevention, which apparently tragically failed in the Magashi case, punishment for acts of violence against women is also considered inadequate.
The sentence is often mild or is subsequently reduced, Arrita Rezniqi from the Kosovo Institute for Justice told the daily newspaper “Koha Ditore” after Magashi’s death. Added to this is the general inefficiency of the Kosovan judicial system. As early as April, the Kosovo Women’s Network declared that the courts were sending out the wrong signal with such decisions when a life sentence was reduced for a man who had killed his wife.
Criticism from the left of the left-wing government
The government was already under pressure before the recent incidents. In October, following the shocking rape of an 11-year-old girl, Kurti announced a package of reforms that would include stricter minimum sentences for rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence.
In addition, so-called virginity tests are to be banned, with which men – or their families – make sure before marriage that the bride enters the marriage “unblemished”. The legislative package has yet to be approved by Parliament.
In circles that advocate better protection for women, people are disappointed with the government despite these steps, precisely because Albin Kurti’s left-progressive party is generally regarded as an ideological ally. “The government takes action when there is an outcry. There’s a lot of symbolic politics involved,” says journalist Aulone Kadriu. But prevention also means asking uncomfortable socio-political questions: about the outdated concept of honor, about reducing women to their role as mothers. You have to be active here.
Nothing is happening in this regard – on the contrary. “Kurti emphasized Magashi’s role as a mother in a Facebook post and literally regretted that there were now two fewer Albanians. But the murder of a woman is always a scandal, no matter what role she plays in society.”
vibrant civil society
Kosovo is a patriarchal, traditional society, agrees Besarta Breznica from the Kosovo Women’s Network. However, the country does not stand out in a regional comparison. The fact that we hear more often about violence against women in Kosovo is also a result of the fact that, thanks to a lively civil society, there are many organizations that talk about it.
In addition, a lot of educational work is being done. “Today, women and girls know better what their rights are. That’s why we’re seeing more ads now.”