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| Women raped by the war in Kosovo protesting in Pristina (archive) |
This week, the Kosovo government made the decision to change the law so that survivors of sexual violence during the 1998-1999 war can apply for official state recognition as victims later.
The government's five-year registration process came to an end on February 5 when the application deadline for the Commission to Recognize and Verify Survivors of Sexual Violence During the Kosovo War expired.
Campaigners, on the other hand, lobbied the authorities, arguing that the five-year period was insufficient due to the widespread anxiety among survivors about registering. However, until the law is changed, no new applications will be accepted after February 5.
Concerns have been raised about the low number of applications submitted by survivors for official victim registration and eligibility for welfare benefits by activists in Kosovo.
Over 20,000 people are thought to have been raped during the war, according to Kosovo officials and survivors' advocacy groups. However, only approximately 1,870 individuals have applied to the government commission thus far.
Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, one of the few wartime rape survivors who has spoken out about her experience, stated that the number of applications received thus far has deeply disappointed her.
There are very few victims who have applied. "I had much higher expectations," Krasniqi Goodman told BIRN.
Painful it is. It would appear that there was insufficient motivation for them to apply,” she added.
She was also concerned that some applicants had not been treated with enough consideration: She stated, "Not every case has been treated humanely by the governmental commission [evaluating the applications] based on the victims' statements." A significant number of the victims have expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which they were treated after being asked to participate in interviews.
Krasniqi Goodman was assaulted in an abandoned house in April 1999 during the war by two Serbian police officers who took her from her home. She was 16 when it happened. After two suspects were found not guilty of raping her by Kosovo's Supreme Court, she spoke out.