Victims of Kosovo's sexual violence hard to verify

Over 300 survivors of sexual violence during the war have so far submitted applications to the Commission for Recognition of the Victims of Sex Violence. The chairman of this commission, Minire Begaj, has said that until now 29 people have been approved applications and they will receive pensions retroactively since March of this year.

The application process for the status of sexual victims during the recent war in Kosovo, on the Commission for Recognising the Status of Victims of Sex Violence during the war, representatives of this Commission say.

According to them, the interest of victims applying for this status continues to grow.

However, the stigma about what these victims of sexual violence have experienced remains a challenge for both women and men, says Radio Kosovo, director of the Kosovo Sex Victims Torture Relief Centre Feride Rushiti.

According to Rushiti, each man's centre treats the victims of war violence, men find it much harder to break the silence to confess and receive needed treatments.

There's also some help or psychological support from psychologist or other areas that he needs is a little hard to break the silence after a long period of time, to share confession with either the organisation's professionals or someone else. So it is necessary to give you the warmth to share their traumatic experience which is then documented through form and delivered to the government commission”, Rushtiti said.

That it is difficult to confess the horror of sexual violence shows one of the victims of the male gender at the time of 26 years. He relates to Radio Kosovo that besides his wife, no one else knows about his violation in the war. It shows that in 1999, in the vicinity of” The End of Accession” in Pristina was taken by the Serbian paramilitary unit and violated in the basements of the Police Station at “Muhajareans' sector”.

This victim of sexual violence shows that it was very difficult for family members to hide the truth. He even related the greatest difficulties he had before his three children. Only after 16 years did he tell his wife that “could no longer hide the truth”.

My wife has investigated me that I've had that separation or as I call it in silence, bad mood. Nobody even knows, and they never will. I have every force tried to escape the truth from anyone knowing”, he relates.

However, he encourages other men, victims of sexual violence, to be notified by the Commission and to take advantage of the status they have been granted by law, even though he says this pension “is not enough for health services neither”.

I'd asked all those who haven't applied and who hesitate to come apply. Because as young as this pension is, it serves for medicine and health”, he relates.

Meanwhile, the Commission for Recognising the Status of Victims of Sex Violence in Kosovo has already recognised the first 29 cases.

All these people, according to the chairman of this Commission, Minire Begaj pensions will be retroactively received since March of this year.

We have actually prosecuted the first 29 cases that we've approved or that we've recognized the status of war violations in the Department of Families and War Invalids, which is under the Ministry of Labour and Social Management and we're considering they are under way. The cases that applied in February, we approved in March. Now we're in the fourth month, and they're gonna get their dues for March”, Begaj said.

However, the verification process for recognising the status of victims of sexual violence is very difficult, Begaj says. The legal deadline for examining an app is 30 days, but in case of rejection, according to her all have the right to complaint and cases will be reviewed.

The majority of cases that were rejected, despite the fact that we've requested additional documents, are because the app itself has specified a fact or a test. We've been looking for him, not something that's wrong, but we've been looking for that document that the other side said was a service, or some help somewhere, but that the side hasn't delivered. We invited the party to the interview so that they would not be denied the right way. When the evidence was unconvincing, the Commission had no deep conviction that the side was violated and rejected. But all those we've refused have the new right to review the application, they can bring if they have new evidence, additional documents or if they just think they're being wronged”, Begaj said.

From February of this year, when the application process for recognition of the status of the victim of sexual violence in war has begun, 367 persons have applied to be recognised. Of them 55 have been approved, and another 40 have been rejected. This process will be open until February 2023.