Hull: Many women who have reported violence have been told by police to go home and regulate their case with their husband

Commission for Human Rights Chairman Duda Balje has said that in Kosovo there is an alaramante state of violence against women.

Balje has said the new Family Violence Protection Law is expected to be much tougher in proportion to penalties against those who commit any violence against women.

We're trying to improve the situation, but we're not very successful. We have a practice since something happens we are very radical, then still silence. We are on our way to build a new law against violence against women and are practically ready for our first reading after vacation. We have a more radical law, but we have a system where the woman in Kosovo is not safe even at home. We have many problems here, so we have to be more serious from the first step, the police, the one that goes to the scene or after the announcement of violence until the last moment. We are reacting every day, but we still have not had much success. Unfortunately, even the assembly, the government, the Ministry of Justice and nongovernmental organisations are in a voice against violence against women, but the situation is very alarming. We need to work and speak up. We have problems both at home and in the way we're raising our children, so we all have to step ahead of”.

The chairman of the Commission for Human Rights has stated that the first step in dealing with violence against women is wrong, since, according to her, it is not uncommon that after the woman reports the case to the police, she is not taken seriously.

She says that most women who venture to go to the police to show that they have domestic violence later face an even more serious reality because of mentality.

I don't think we're taking these cases very seriously, originally by the police. I'm in contact with these women every day, where we've actually helped a woman with non-combat citizenship get out of the country. There is also a woman who has been experiencing violence for many years and her husband is in custody, and now she fears what it will be like when her husband gets out of custody. There are two boys (14 and 16) and will not go to the shelter because he will not live without children. To us, because of our culture and tradition, the woman when she goes to announce violence for the first time is not taking this very seriously. Most of those women say the police told him to go home and arrange the case with your husband. Prosecutors also have a problem because women, after reporting the case of male violence, then they get very bad with their own family and their husband, because with us a man, you're a very bad woman, no matter whether you have violence at home. A woman's power to go and announce violence must be taken very seriously”.

Balje has said that as Kosovo Parliament deputy will now speak with names, if there is safe information for anyone who does not do the job properly in handling this phenomenon in Kosovo.