Sexual Harassment in Kosovo

Executive Summary
The Legal Framework
Kosovo has a plethora of laws that can be considered applicable in relation to sexual harassment. In
civil proceedings, the Law on Gender Equality and Law on Protection from Discrimination define sexual
harassment. While the Criminal Code defines harassment, it does not contain a specific definition of sexual
harassment per se. Criminal provisions do provide advanced protections for vulnerable victims, including
victims of sexual abuse. Internal regulations in different institutions and procedures for reporting sexual
harassment remain insufficiently clear, hampering the implementation of these laws. Kosovo needs to
streamline the plethora of laws, include a more specific definition of sexual harassment in the Criminal
Code, and establish clear procedures for reporting. Otherwise, Kosovo will continue to lack de facto
implementation of these laws, including individual claims of discrimination, gender-based discrimination, and
sexual harassment.
Perceptions
A higher percentage of men than women tend to identify most forms of sexual harassment as such.
Older people tend to be more likely than younger people to identify several (albeit not all) forms of
harassment. When asked what sexual harassment means to them, 69.3% of survey respondents consider
violent criminal offences, such as rape or attempted rape, forms of sexual harassment. Less than half of
the survey respondents think that pressure for sexual favours (49%); touching, pinching, or pushing
(49%); or whistling at someone in the street (43.8%) are forms of sexual harassment. Even fewer
Kosovars consider other forms of sexual harassment as such, suggesting a general lack of awareness
regarding what sexual harassment is. This can create challenges in implementing the legal framework.
A culture of “blaming the victim” when sexual harassment occurs is widespread, with
approximately 74% of Kosovars believing that “women bring harassment problems on themselves by
dressing or acting provocatively.” Slightly more women agree with this statement than men. Nearly a
third of Kosovars believe that people naturally harass others when they are attracted to them and that
such behaviour is “okay”. More men (35.4%) than women (26.9%) tend to agree that such behaviour is
acceptable. Further, there is a fairly widespread belief among both women and men that “young
women like being harassed” (40.5%).
Extent
An estimated 48.5% of Kosovars experienced some form of sexual harassment in their lifetimes
and 45.2% did in 2014 alone. Women (64.1% of women) are significantly more likely to have experienced
sexual harassment than men (32.5%), and younger people reported experiencing harassment more than
older people. The most common form of sexual harassment respondents experienced was having
someone make unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, or gestures, including while walking down the
street. Respondents primarily were harassed by unknown persons, but also by acquaintances, friends, coworkers,
teachers, bosses at work, and their partners. Both victims and witnesses of harassment tend to
ignore it. Only 4.1% of all respondents ever reported sexual harassment to the authorities or knew
someone who had.
Institutional Response
Most representatives of institutions tend to lack knowledge about sexual harassment, its
definition, the relevant legal framework, and appropriate procedures for addressing it. This hampers
their ability to effectively respond to sexual harassment cases. They tend to misunderstand sexual
harassment as rape or sexual assault, while “less severe” forms are either unknown or considered
unimportant. Some representatives of institutions blamed victims for sexual harassment. The fact that
so few cases are reported or documented by institutions makes it difficult to evaluate the institutional
response.
4