Since 2010, 63 women in Kosovo have been killed by their husbands

The killing of a woman by her husband yesterday in Gjilan has brought violence against women and the responsibility of institutions to prevent fatal cases back into focus.

According to the figures cited on the killing of women in Kosovo, she is the 63rd woman to have been killed by her husband since 2010. Her brother was also killed in the shooting, while her uncle was seriously wounded.

Justice Minister Donika Gërvalla responded to the incident, saying institutions must intervene before violence escalates to murder.

“We must not wait for women to be killed before we respond. Our duty is to act, to prevent violence and to do everything in our power to ensure that such tragedies never happen again,” Gërvalla wrote in her public response.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, is directly incorporated into Article 22 of Kosovo’s Constitution. It sets standards for preventing violence, protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators.

At the initiative of then-President Vjosa Osmani, the Council for Democracy and Human Rights was established in 2022. During its two years of activity, the council issued specific recommendations for combating gender-based violence, including necessary legal changes. However, according to the information cited, it met only twice.

Adelina Berisha of the Kosovo Women’s Network says convening the council should not be seen as an end in itself. She says the meeting must be followed by concrete institutional measures to investigate cases and improve legislation.

“We expect our institutions to emerge from this meeting with concrete steps they will take to ensure adequate investigations into these cases and make changes to legislation, which appear increasingly necessary so that violence against women and the killing of women are addressed in our laws, become a national priority and receive the attention of institutions,” she said.

Ilir Havolli, president of the Association of Psychologists of Kosovo, says addressing the problem is urgent and stresses the need for institutional intervention and investment in mental health.

“We cannot conceive of or accept violence as something normal in our society. The main problem lies with our state, because the state does not invest in promoting mental health or dealing with these cases. We have policies on paper, but those policies are never implemented,” Havolli said.

The figures cited show that women aged 30 to 40 make up the largest group of domestic violence victims. According to Kosovo Police figures in the six-month report for this year, 1,335 cases of domestic violence were reported.