Sexual Harassment in Kosovo

Graph 15. Institutional Representatives that Agree with the Following Statements
Women Men Both
The problem with sexual harassment cases is that it is
difficult to prove that it happened
57%
66%
70%
The Anti-Discrimination Law prevents sexual
harassment
80%
81%
80%
Young women like being harassed.
Harassment doesn’t do any harm to the person being
harassed.
People naturally harass others when they are attracted
to them and that’s OK.
Sexual harassment at work can ONLY come from
supervisors.
10%
10%
10%
3%
7%
4%
10%
23%
15%
2%
10%
5%
Women bring harassment problems on themselves by
dressing or acting provocatively.
38%
46%
62%
As Graph 15 illustrates, 10% of women and 23% of men respondents from institutions agree that
“people naturally harass others when they are attracted to them and that’s okay.” Four percent of
women and men officials agree that “harassment doesn’t do
any harm to the person being harassed.” Lastly, when asked
if they thought that sexual harassment at work could only be
carried out by supervisors, only 2% of women agreed,
whereas 10% of men did.
Most officials interviewed said that they have Codes of
Conduct, which prevent sexual harassment. However, these
documents tend not to address sexual harassment
“It’s horrible when a professor
requires a student to go to his
office to take grades with other
intentions. They should be as
second parents to students.”
- Woman, age 55, Peja
specifically. As one representative said, “The code of conduct regulates how we dress. But women
dress ‘improperly’ so that is also a form of sexual harassment.” 114 Similar statements were made by
representatives of other institutions, who blamed women, considering them responsible for sexual
harassment occurring. This shows a lack of awareness about what constitutes sexual harassment.
The following sections further examine institutional responses to sexual harassment within
specific institutions. This chapter also examines which mechanisms different institutions have to prevent
and/or report sexual harassment when it occurs within that particular institution. KWN received very
114 KWN interview, 2015.
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