Protest in Skopje after the killing of 17-year-old Biljana Kiriq; calls for accountability and legal changes

Following the killing of 17-year-old Biljana Kiriq by her boyfriend in Bogdanci, a protest against violence against women was held in Skopje.

Participants called for institutions to be held accountable for their failures, for urgent adoption of legal amendments aimed at protecting people from violence, and for the dismissal of public officials who justify violence against women or portray it as normal.

“For every failure, we demand that the names be made public, responsibility be determined and sanctions imposed. We also demand that legal amendments to protect people from violence be submitted and adopted urgently,” one of the protesters said.

According to her, efforts to combat gender-based violence cannot succeed as long as society and institutions obstruct the identification and addressing of this phenomenon.

“We cannot fight gender-based violence while denying its existence. Those who call for controlling women, justify violence or contribute to its normalization must be dismissed,” she said.