Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, a Kosovo wartime sexual violence survivor who was the first to speak out about her experience between 1998 and 1999, is running for Parliament during the snap elections set to take place on February 14.
Krasniqi Goodman who decided to run with Vetevendosje Movement said she never thought she would take such a decision.
“But today is a new moment in my life, now I gave myself a task, which for me is not easy at all,” Krsasniqi Goodman wrote on Facebook.
She said that she was running for a seat in the Assembly in order to represent the survivors of wartime sexual violence “even more actively”.
“Representing such a category in the temple of democracy will be a challenge and an honor for me, a challenge because it requires spiritual and emotional strength, an honor because through this representation I will work with the greatest desire, and you know why!” she wrote.
In 2018 Krasniqi Goodman became the first woman to break the silence by not hiding her identity when sharing publicly on TV how she was raped by two Serbian policemen during the war. She was only 16 at the time when she was raped.
The two policemen were acquitted of raping her by Kosovo’s Supreme Court in 2014.
In 2019 Krasniqi Goodman, an American citizen called on Washington to work more on holding Serbia accountable for the crimes its forces committed in Kosovo, as she testified at the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee.
About 20,000 Kosovo Albanians are believed to have been raped by Serbian forces during the wartime in Kosovo.
By speaking publicly about her experience, Krasniqi Goodman received massive support by society, seen as an encouragement for other victims to share their story.
Thousands of victims are still living in silence fearing stigmatization.
Kosovo’s citizens refer to her as a “heroine” for the strength to share her truth and support other victims.
While in Prishtina, “Heroines” is a monument standing to honor all the wartime sexual victims.
