107 people claiming to be victims of sexual violence are rejected

The government commission for recognition and verification of the status of persons violated during the recent war in Kosovo, by February of this year, has accepted 676 applications from persons claiming to be victims of sexual violence.

Of them, the Commission has examined and addressed 265 subjects. Of this number, 136 people recognized status of victim of sexual violence. 107 cases have been rejected. Currently, 22 subjects are under consideration.

So said free Europe Radio Minire Begaj, chairman of the government Commission for recognition and verification of the status of persons violated during the recent war in Kosovo.

She explains that of the total number of applications, 15 are men. But only six have already gained the status of the victim of sexual violence.

According to the law, those who are recognized as the status of the victim of sexual violence during the war benefit personal benefit or payment $230 per month.

Begaj tells of the reasons why a number of subjects that have already been discussed have been rejected.

“As far as cases are rejected, the Commission has the right to examine documentation and all that has been presented in confession, we as the Commission have the right to request additional documents. Then there's dry materials, until there are cases of rejection, but we as the Commission demand that, based on what has been said, be met with documents that we ask for verification. Then we develop oral interviews with an occasion that for various circumstances did not preserve the documents that we ask for. We as the Commission do not have the right to deny them the right, but we need evidence”, Begaj said.

On the other hand, Mirlinda Sada from the association “Medica Gjakova”, an organisation that offers psycho-social assistance to victims of sexual violence, announced that the number of people who claim to be survivors of the sexual violence of the recent war in Kosovo has begun to rise.

But, as Sada says, what counts is that they're sexually violated males. They're starting to call. and apply to the commission.

We've applied 120 applications to the Commission, and we've made 25 decisions from which, 21, we have positive and 4 negative”.

And I can say that the number is starting to grow and what's new is that men are starting to apply and demand their persons and rights, because it's a certain number of male genders that happened to them this crime”.

We still need work to get us to work on awareness campaigns to increase awareness of this category, as well as show them, the way the application is applied to gain benefits that the state offers to”, Sada said.

However, the number of applicants is considered small compared to the figure in percent 20 thousand victims of sexual violence During the last war, presented by institutions and organizations dealing with the protection of the rights of this category.

The vetting process is necessary to obtain legal benefits created for this category.

Under the law, the victim of sexual violence in war is the person who has survived sexual abuse and rape within the period of 27.02.1998 to 20,06.1999. The victims of sexual violence during the war are both females and males, although the largest number belong to female females.