Macanovic: Victims should report violence, and once they do, they must be kept safe

Victims of violence should seek help from institutions, and once they do, they must be kept safe, says Vanja Macanovic of the Autonomous Women’s Center in Belgrade, commenting on the case of Arlinda Zekaj, a woman from Pec who was killed despite having reported violence and raised concerns about institutional failures.

Arlinda Zekaj is the eighth woman killed in Kosovo this year, and her case has sparked protests demanding the resignations of those deemed responsible. Macanovic says that, when the number of women killed is considered in relation to the population, the figure in Kosovo is significant.

“What women’s organizations around the world are calling for is for these cases to be reviewed and for it to be established where institutions failed. It is important to identify which links in the protection process broke down and where there was a lack of understanding,” Macanovic told Kosovo Online.

She explained that the Zekaj case was highly specific because of the complex circumstances surrounding the killing.

“She was not killed by her husband, who was in custody at the time; she was killed by her brother-in-law. This femicide is effectively linked to what is known as an ‘honor killing.’ She allegedly brought dishonor upon her husband’s family by reporting him and having him detained, after which she obtained an interim order granting her custody of the child. In ‘honor killings,’ it is often the youngest male member of the family who is instructed to carry out the killing. It also needs to be established why his parents were living with them in the house and why they were allowed to do so. If they had no right to live there, then how did they come to be there?” Macanovic asked.

She added that, given that the victim had reported her husband for violence, the responsibility of his immediate family also had to be examined.

“We cannot say that she was not provided with protection, because she had reported the husband she was divorcing. The case has to be viewed in the context of what his immediate family was doing. They took their son’s child and prevented the mother from seeing the child. They were complicit, yet no proceedings were initiated against them. Responsibility is shifted onto the victim rather than the institutions, which should have looked at the entire situation and set clear boundaries for each person involved,” Macanovic said.

She recalled that emergency restraining orders also existed in Kosovo, but stressed that much more needed to be done to improve the protection of women from violence.

“Risk assessment is crucial. Assessing how dangerous someone may be does not apply only to the perpetrator. Members of the perpetrator’s immediate family should also be assessed, and this should be discussed with the woman. When victims of violence contact us, the first thing we do is conduct a risk assessment. There are certain red flags indicating that you may be seriously injured or killed,” Macanovic explained.

She stressed that victims must be kept safe after reporting violence.

“A plan must be put in place to ensure that the victim remains safe after making a report. Unfortunately, institutions still do not understand this, nor does the wider public. Whatever a victim of violence does, it is never considered good enough, and there is always something to criticize. Finding yourself in a situation where you are a victim of violence is neither easy nor straightforward. I urge everyone who knows women living with violence to encourage them first to contact women’s organizations, which also exist in Kosovo,” Macanovic appealed.

Asked whether she believed the protests in Kosovo would produce results and lead to resignations, Macanovic said that resignations were an act of moral responsibility by those in leadership positions when systems under their authority failed to function properly.

“Fundamentally, what the Kosovo Government should do is review the relevant legislation as soon as possible and determine why mistakes occur and where failures in information-sharing arise,” Macanovic concluded.