Five years on: What survivors’ stories and data reveal about progress in Kosovo on violence against women

For Xhevrije*, mother of four, justice begins with something many take for granted: freedom. For 20 years, abuse kept her silent. “The biggest mistake I made was at the beginning, when I did not tell anyone,” she says. Threats, control and years of violence left little room to act. Even when she tried to take refuge with her family, fear followed her. Only after finding shelter and institutional support, she did realize how differently her life might have gone if she had known earlier what protections existed and how to access them.

Saranda* knows that feeling too. Also a mother of four and a foreign citizen living in Kosovo at the time, she endured coercive control and was cut off from her family, work, studies and independence. She says she finally fled when she believed that staying could cost her life and her children’s.

Their stories show that laws and systems matter only when survivors can actually access them. Over the past five years, Kosovo¹ has taken important steps to strengthen that access through reforms in its legal and institutional frameworks.

A legal foundation, built step by step

In September 2020, Kosovo’s Assembly adopted a constitutional amendment giving direct effect to the Istanbul Convention. This was followed by the National Strategy on Protection Against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women 2022–2026 and, in 2023, by a new Law on Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence, Violence against Women and Gender-Based Violence. UN Women supported each of these steps continuously, including through the EU-funded regional programme “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds.”

Making violence more visible

Kosovo has also improved the way cases of violence against women are tracked and coordinated across institutions. Since March 2020, the Ministry of Justice has maintained the national database connecting police, prosecutors, courts, social work centres, and shelters, and it is now publicly accessible. UN Women supported its design and maintenance, alongside broader efforts on legal and policy development, institutional coordination and survivor services.

The numbers recorded in the system are stark. In 2020, police registered 2,069 cases of violence against women. By 2025, that figure had risen to 2,815, reflecting not only the scale of the issue but also greater awareness of available protection mechanisms and increased confidence in reporting violence.

When systems meet real life

The Kosovo Gender Country Profile, published by UN Women under the EU-funded Gender Equality Facility project, notes that gender-based violence, including domestic violence, remains widespread, and identifies persistent challenges in laws’ implementation, prevention, protection and access to services. At the same time, it underscores the role of shelters, local coordination mechanisms and free legal aid in helping survivors rebuild their lives.

For both Xhevrije and Saranda, the safe house became the turning point in escaping violence. They found refuge at “Safe House” in Gjakova, a specialized shelter for women survivors of domestic violence. There, they received accommodation, psychosocial support, legal guidance and help navigating institutional procedures.

“I found a lot of support in the shelter community,” says Xhevrije. “The safe house helped with ‘everything’ - legal procedures, communication with institutions, all of it,” Saranda says.

“Shelters are not just places of immediate protection, but also an entry point into justice, recovery and longer-term support. Over the years, through our partnership with UN Women, we have improved the quality and sustainability of services, strengthened inter-institutional cooperation, and played a more active role in advocacy and policy influence,” notes Erblina Dinarama, Executive Director of “Safe House” Gjakova, and also the Head of the Association of Shelters of Kosovo.

UN Women has supported this work on the legal and strategic frameworks, revised Standard Operating Procedures on gender-based violence cases, and direct partnership with service providers, including Safe House Gjakova. Most recently, this support came through the project “Addressing the effects of gender-based violence in Kosovo and empowering survivors to fight stigma and speak out,” funded by the British Embassy in Pristina.

Turning laws into real protection for women

Survivors’ experiences also make clear that passing laws is only part of the solution. Their impact also depends on how these laws are put into practice.

Xhevrije believes that knowing her rights and the laws earlier could have changed the course of her life. “If I had known what the laws were like, I would not have tolerated it for 20 years. I would have reported it immediately,” she says.

“As these cases show, justice for survivors depends not only on laws, but on how institutions work together in practice,” said Vlora Tuzi Nushi, Head of Office of UN Women in Kosovo. “A coordinated multi-stakeholder approach remains essential to ensure that survivors can access protection, support and justice in a timely and dignified manner.”

Institutional accountability also matters

Recent court rulings have also been seen as important signs of stronger institutional accountability in cases of femicide and violence against women. In April 2026, Naim Murseli was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of his wife, Liridona Ademaj, a case that shocked Kosovo after her murder in November 2023. The ruling marked only the second life sentence had been issued in Kosovo in such a case. The first was handed down also in April 2026 to Dardan Krivaqa for the torture and killing of his partner, 18-year-old Marigona Osmani.

*The names of the survivors in this story have been changed to protect their identities.

¹ For UN Women, references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).