Albanian rap songs are hugely popular in Albania, Kosova and Macedonia, shaping mainstream ideas of masculinity. But will a new generation of rappers pose a challenge to these norms?
Proponents of family values preach respect for mothers, but expect those same mothers to simply endure abuse within their homes in silence - normalizing violence for generations to come.
A video of a woman walking in Prishtina being sexually harassed 50 times in 8 hours and publication of quantitative data on the harassment of women counter the argument that it's not a widespread problem.
Centuries old oppression founded on gender, race, cultural group, and socio-economic class is being challenged by Romani women who are combating their public and private marginalization through initiatives embedded within the Roma identity.
Nineteen-year-old Elona Kastrati became internet-famous overnight, after she hung sanitary pads covered in feminist statements in a German city centre on International Women’s Day. Then she moved to her parents’ homeland – Kosovo.
For a country of 1.7 million people, Kosovo has a large and vibrant media landscape. All too often, however, the media fails to treat women with humanity and respect.
Mitrovica’s bridge as ‘symbol’ helps obscure the forces of elite manipulation and institutions of power in constructing Balkan nationalisms, and falsely presents inter-communal tensions in Kosovo as inevitable.
The Be a Man project by the Kosovan NGO Peer Educators Network uses workshops and art to provide young Kosovans with an alternative understanding of masculinity.
Social stigma, spotty enforcement of inheritance laws, and inconsistent government policies have all made things harder for female survivors of war in Kosovo, when what they’ve needed is help to heal.
Haveit, a Kosovan art collective consisting of four young women, use their performances to explore gender and social issues.
Hegemonic masculinity enforces a half-reality, obscuring women’s perspectives. Yet the irony is that dismantling these gender norms would liberate Albanian men as well as women.
The 2015 documentary The Unidentified addresses the unexposed massacres in the Peja area, and the still-unidentified corpses of Albanian victims, which were transported to Serbia.
