Sexual Harassment Still Rife in Kosovo, Survey

Most women Kosovo have been sexually harassed at least once in their lives, according to a new survey published on Monday by the Kosova Women Network, KWN.

The published data suggest that 64.1 per cent of women were harassed last year compared with 32.5 per cent of men.

The same survey asked respondents if they had experienced harrassment in 2014 as well, with 63.5 per cent of women and 24.3 per cent of interviewed men saying yes.

However, only 4.1 per cent of the total number of 1,315 interviewees said they had reported such events or had heard of someone else reporting such events.

According to KWN, victims of sexual harassment told them that in several cases their reports to the police or other authorities resulted in no effective action.

Kosovo's authorities face increased criticism from civil society and international bodies for not paying due attention to sexual harassment and domestic violence.

Igballe Rogova, head of KWN, said that sexual harassment remains a vague concept for many Kosovars.

"Some women even complained to us that we wanted to forbid men from flirting with them. As this is not about flirting, we aim to halt every inappropriate action, be it verbal or physical, that targets women without their consent," Rogova explained.

According to the report, women experience sexually explicit comments, stalking, and physical confrontations at a significantly higher rate than men do.

Significantly more women also reported that they experienced sexual harassment in public spaces from strangers.

The findings show that 77.6 per cent of interviewed women said that women "provoke sexual harassment by the way they dress and behave", as opposed to 70.3 per cent of men who shared the same views.