Steal like men, victimized as a woman

Kosovo has strong women. Women who have challenged poverty, prejudice, violence, and injustice have never stopped. There are women who have arrived hard, with knowledge and with relatively little work, and today have families, run businesses, establish justice, educate generations and contribute to the country more than anyone. They're women who don't ask for favors but fight hard for their rights. For them, equality is not a slogan, it's a hard-earned reality. And it's for these women we have an obligation to protect seriously the cause of women's rights.

In a society where women are still raped, beaten, and killed by men, or silenced by fear of living with dignity, it is a grave insult for power to use feminism as a shield for corruption, inability, or political failure. Such misuse is not only manipulation of a sensitive cause; it is direct damage for women who need real protection and for society trying to deal with gender equality seriously.

VV MP Victory Pacolli has been publicly charged that her brother and uncle have benefited from 100,000 euros from the Ministry of Agriculture, even though they have not had any literal agricultural activities. Moreover, an NGO co-founded by her husband and her sister's husband has benefited 52,000 euros from the Ministry of Culture. In the face of such serious suspicions, she chose not to answer, but to attack RTK's journalist being victimised and claiming she was being attacked because she is a woman.

This is classic abuse with the notion of feminism. Purposeful victimisation is a strategy to avoid responsibility. It's not the first time that happens and unfortunately, it's not even the only time. Albulen Haxhiu, acting minister of justice, has been similarly victimised. After failing to be elected 54 times as speaker of the Parliament, she and her party in each public appearance have said her refusal occurred “because it is woman”. In fact, MPs have not refused for gender, but for arrogance, division and inability to build unity qualities that have been seen and clearly felt throughout its political action.

Feminism is not a shield to escape accountability. It's not a card to silence the media. It's not a uniform to hide personal interests. If a man had faced such charges, his resignation would be required. If a man failed 54 times in the Assembly, he would be disfellowshipped as politically consumed. The same standards should apply to women in power if we truly believe in equality.

When women use feminism to avoid responsibility, they harm women themselves. When representation of a woman becomes a shield for corruption or failure, then every step taken by the movement for equality is at risk of being undone. The cause is not to be used. The cause is to defend yourself honestly, with dignity, with responsibility.

Kosovo women do not need representatives hiding behind the gender whenever they are caught in conflict of interest. The cause for equality has no place for hypocrisy. And our society can no longer tolerate the abuse of a fair battle to protect unjust behavior.

This is no longer a debate on women's rights is about their integrity. And when that integrity is violated by what they claim to represent, the damage is not personal. It's collective. It's political. It's moral.

Stealing like men and hiding after being a woman does not make you a feminist, nor does it make you a part of the problem. And Kosovo needs to get rid of this as well: the hypocrisy that keeps feminism hostage to personal interests.