113 persons have been recognised as victim of sexual violence

At the government's Commission for Recognising and verifying the status of raped persons during the recent war in Kosovo, more than 550 people have submitted applications for the verification of status, while 113 people have so far been recognised as the status of the victim of sexual violence.

The chairman of this commission, Minire Begaj, has declared that from the total number, 218 cases have so far been addressed, while 45 victims have already accepted recognised by law.

“So far has recognised the status 113 people, of which 85 are rejected, we have a significant number in the procedure. We as a commission are trying to do what the law and order has to do, so that we can treat all the cases properly with professionalism. ...We also have the situation over the months, on February 5th, when the application started in February, we have 91 cases of application, in March we have 232 cases, April 115, May 95, and June we have 24 cases, but June has not yet closed as the month”, she said.

According to her, from status as victims of sexual violence during the recent war in Kosovo, a total of five men and 108 women have been recognised.

The 218 cases that we've already handled, we've had 14 men's applications, 5 of them approved, seven were rejected, and one remaining in additional documents that we use even the possibilities that when considering that it's not complete documentation, give us an optimum deadline to bring the documents. We have a case waiting for additional documents. The total female treatment we have 108, which is status, which is refused 78. This is the status of men and women for the months we've been treating. For women we have in total that 204 of what we've been treating” has made Begaj known.

This process is being assisted by the Kosovar Centre for Surviving the Survivors of Torture(QKRMT), “Medika Kosova”, “Medica Gjakova” and “Centre for Women's Promoting Rights”, headquartered in Drenas, but forms can be delivered directly to the Commission Secretariat or even to trained officials and authorised at one of the department's respective offices for the martyrs and disabled.

The director of the Kosovar Centre for the rehabilitation of Torture Survivors (QKRMT), Feride Rushiti, considering it a significant process, said that during the day they are being met by two forms.

There are new cases and what's interesting is that we're being very impressed by men, with marriage mates, but I mean with their families, and maybe they'll come up with a little bit without the environment, as they're safe, as we're waiting... then after three or four months they decide to come, call, we leave our meetings just like that by the end of July and we have the list we've made. During the day, we can fill out some two or more forms for the fact that the traumatic event should be taken in confession and experience of women, and the men should be taken in very detailed form, because it is the only evidence that enables the commission to make the positive or negative decision”, Rusiti has made known.

Rushiti has also claimed that the number of new cases being reported at this center has increased by 30 percent.

There are some 20-30 percent of the total, but there are groups that are continuing to be notified, and we're thinking that it's sometimes the impression that they can be treated in groups, maybe like other categories of war. Here's a little bit more specific because you have a case that you can't take away the traumatic history without treatment, you need to first get into treatment, with some trauma worked out, and then you can talk, and build trust, and then you have to continue to complete the documentation that the state commission asks for”, she has stated.

By February 5th, the application for recognition and verification of the status of victims of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo has started, and the whole process is expected to last five years.

While last November, the government has made the decision that monthly payment for victims of sexual violence during the war be 230 euros.