40 men from Kosovo have documented sexual violence during recent war

The chairman of the Commission for Verification of the Status of Victims of Sex Violence, Minire Begaj-Balaj, says the process of verifying all subject surrenders is sensitive and difficult.

In the Kosovo interview, Press says that since this commission started work, over 1500 cases have been submitted.

We have 1565 cases of sexual violence victim status applied. Of those treated, we have 1008 cases that we have recognized the status of the victim of sexual violence. This number is also involved in a monthly personal pension worth 230 euros. Of them generally treated so far are 1280. We have approximately 50 cases waiting for additional documents for interviews. We have a rejected number, 219 cases are rejected. But, in the turnout part, we also have requests for reviewing even the requests that are going by indictment to court”, she says.

With the commission comprised of nine panelists this year, 74 persons' files have been submitted.

The chairman of this five - year - old commission says that the priority is for the parties to be carefully treated and the needs of survivors provided. According to her, there are materials that are treated up to four times before the decision is made.

“40 men we've recognized the status of the victim of sexual violence, the rest is women... (06:40) For this year we've already had 73 cases that have applied. We are aware that the pandemic has influenced every sphere, even in this part of the commission, even applications. In the past year, we had the obstacle we had to do with government decisions. Then we had a discount, but it was an effect of pandemic. We haven't had any growth or drastic landings, there's been a same tempo that could come during the months”, said Begaj-Baley.

While some of the victims have managed to document the violation they experienced, they have refused to receive monthly payment.

We have several cases, not many cases, but we have cases that some survivors have come to apply only to show what happened. And they say it very openly, they say it in front of us that I don't need financial means, I don't need anyone. I'm here to show you and I'm left with this impression and this suffering that has happened to us. It also presents it with what it has been able to do, come to the commission, earn the victim's right, but does not care about financial means”, she declares for Kosovas.

The Commission for Verification of the Status of Victims of Sex Violence has not yet opened over 280 people's confessions.

So far we have 286 cases. But in the next week, that number can be dropped or increased. Depends on what we accept, or what we make decisions”, she declares.

Treatment of these cases is considered difficult, since victims rarely possess the necessary documentation this commission requires.

The “Problems are different, now that we're identifying it mostly is the issue of stigma. Men and women have problems for one reason or another to address the commission. At first it was different because the first few months we had a very large volume of subjects. Somewhere in the first few months, 700 subjects have come to apply, but there have been cases that have been treated in NGOs. Now we're in the third year, and we're seeing that there's a problem with the record, of rinse is 20 years in question. Things have been forgotten, and if there have been checks, the documents have not been preserved. Even if they had witnesses, now the witness does not come to confirm or give a statement”, she says.

The deadline to apply for recognition and verification of the status of the victim of sexual violence is five years from the start of the commission's work. This Government Commission for Recognition and Verification of the Status of Rapistered Persons during the War has officially begun work in February 2018.