In Gjilan, Kosovo, a court has sparked controversy when it found five men not guilty of rape and claimed the girl consented because she got in a taxi with them.
In 2012, a 19-year-old girl pressed charges against five men for rape. The men were acquitted of all charges.
The court ruled that “it has not been proven by any credible and complete evidence that the accused used violence or serious threats against the injured party while committing a sexual act…the woman…voluntarily admitted that on the day, she travelled by taxi with the first accused even though she knew he was of the opposite gender.”
It continues that “given this behaviour, and the fact she had a conflict with her family due to her wandering and companionship with men…being in a space with new people in itself means the injured party has agreed to sexual adventures with them.”
It further referred to the rape of the girl as “the extinction of sexual lust” and said the girl had “bad morals”.
Civil society groups in Kosovo have called on the Kosovo judicial council to take disciplinary measures against the trial panel judges.
Between January and October, 2021, 1396 cases of domestic or gender-based violence were reported in Kosovo. Also, this year, a woman in Prishtina reported she was raped by five men who plied her with drugs to carry out the ordeal over several days. Another young woman, just 18-years-old was kidnapped, raped, and brutally beaten before being left for dead outside a hospital. She succumbed to her injuries, and it was discovered one of the assailants had a criminal record amounting to 136 charges.
Activists in Kosovo have held several demonstrations over the last year, protesting against domestic violence, rape of women and minors, and femicide.
