Unfinished war suffering, the thrilling confession of victims of sexual violence

Mimoza and Vjollca, by Gjakova, are victims of sexual violence. They were violated by members of Serbian forces in 1998.

Mimoza was 24 years old and cared for her parents. She was the family's favorite, but for one day her life took another turn.

I was the only child in the family. I don't have a brother or a sister. For my parents, I was everything. In 1999, three Serb policemen entered the house and started beating my parents. Then they turned to me, and of three policemen, one in front of my parents violated me. My parents have been very bad at it. Then I was dragged and left on the street. I've been beaten up a lot of”, Mimoza relates.

The horror of Mimoza continued on the street. She says she's been screaming a lot, but she hasn't found help from anyone.

I still feel pain in my body today. I've been screaming as far as I could, but no one has helped me since it was a war. Then on the street, I have been violated and told that we will take my heart and weigh it down. They had a bloody knife. Hot blood point... ”, Mimoza says away.

After a few hours, a neighbor came to his aid and put him in his house. In a serious psychic state, she says that she wanted to die more than she could ever live. But it was the neighbor who spoke to him and brought him back to life. The worst for Mimoza did not end there. After her return home, tragedy took place a few months later with her parents, who had experienced much worse than their daughter had experienced.

I've been in the locked room for a while. After a short time, my father died of a heart attack. He was very upset because I couldn't talk to him. I didn't want to see him in the face. He begged me very much to have a cup of coffee together, since we had a daily routine of”.

After the incident, neither the mother has ever been in good psyche again, having experienced my violation very hard. One morning Mother had approached the well 20m and had danced to die”, Mimoza relates.

Kosovo has four nongovernmental organisations that have dealt with the issue of raped women by offering necessary services to them. One of these organizations is the Society “Medica” from Gjakova.

Mirlinda Sada, leader of this association, says there are currently about 300 women, victims of sexual violence, who exploit the services of this organisation.

That's where we met Vjolka. Her confession was thrilling. In 1998, six policemen had him for three days violated That one. Then he was put in a truck with many corpses, where he had experienced real horror.

It happened when I took the baby to the hospital, because it was paralyzing. After I got out, the whole place was surrounded by cops. They took my husband that day and killed him. I was left with children. I had three kids with me. I went into my husband's uncle's house to save myself. But the police came in too, and they were all thrown out of the house. I was the only one left. I've been raped by six cops for three days in a row”, reports Vjollca.

All members of the family had thought that Vjollza had been killed by Serbian police officers. But when they met her in a few days, her relatives rejoiced greatly, especially her children. But the event did not end there.

I realized after a few months that I was pregnant. My mother sent me to the doctor to remove the baby. I haven't been okay since. I was depressed. I couldn't even hang out with my kids. Then in 2000, I was brought by the body of the man from the mass cemetery. I was invited to the morgue to identify my husband, and I got a lot of trauma, because all the bodies seemed the same. Only bones have I seen and I'm terrified. All civilian men killed during the war”, Vjollca says.

Based on data presented by Kosovo institutions, some 20,000 cases of sexual abuse have occurred during the last war.

Minire Begaj, chairman of the Government Commission for Accepting and verifying the status of victims of sexual violence, tells Radio Free Europe that legal protection has been established for this category. It expects the first applications this year for financial support, which the amount per person has not yet been determined.

For this year, the “is currently set apart 200 thousand euros in demand that the associations authorised under the Ministry of Labour and Social Management for the process of recognition and verification. We, as the commission, together with relevant institutions according to the work done, are thought to be around 200 cases of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo, will apply this year to benefit personal pensions belonging to”, Begaj points out.

The horrors of Mimoza and Vjollza have also experienced thousands of young women and girls in Kosovo. According to organisations dealing with monitoring human rights, no one has so far been charged and convicted of these crimes.