Kosovo

Efforts to address wartime crimes against women and girls remain a key focus of civil society and government. Civil society initiatives, such as the War Rape Survivors Museum in Pristina, which opened in 2024, aim to raise awareness and combat stigma. Judicial accountability has increased, with indictments for wartime violations—including sexual violence—rising seven-fold in 2024 compared to previous years. A 2024 ruling by the country’s highest judicial body allowed three survivors of wartime sexual violence to collect both reparations and an old-age pension, potentially clearing the way for future survivors’ cases. All public institutions are also legally required to ensure equal gender parity, including in leadership positions, although numbers typically fall short of targets. Women remain significantly underrepresented in education, business, formal employment, and politics; in fact, Kosovo has the fifth lowest level of women’s labor force participation in the world at under 20 percent. The war’s continued toll, including trauma and economic strain, contributes to the high prevalence of intimate partner and domestic violence as well as femicide. Impunity, a lack of social services, and lower rates of employment and property ownership for women make it harder to flee abuse. Political deadlock, including the recently resolved failure to form a government after the February 9, 2025 parliamentary elections, has now sown further tension and impeded the delivery of funds that support social programs and media outlets. 

In 2024, the Center of Excellence for Women, Peace and Security was established in the Office of President Osmani, serving as a regional hub for advancing the WPS Agenda. In June 2025, a leaked draft statute revealed that Kosovo’s president planned to launch a Presidential Commission for Transitional Justice, culminating in a report following its three-year mandate. This may be an opportunity to recognize and address violations against women and girls, although its creation could further inflame tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. Avoiding retraumatization for women who participate in continued accountability efforts and preventing the reigniting of political division will remain core challenges.

In the latest development of Kosovo’s protracted political crisis, more than 100 people have been arrested on charges of falsifying election results and exerting threats and bribery during the December 2025 snap parliamentary election. Kosovo entered 2026 without an approved national budget, a situation that threatens to hinder economic growth and delays the allocation of funds for some public programs, including those benefitting women and children. Ongoing political corruption and uncertainty are likely to deepen public distrust in democratic institutions and further constrain women’s already-limited participation in local government.

Three men accused of coordinated and repeated harassment of a journalist who reported on gender-based violence received an “extraordinarily lenient sentence” of only a small fine. The men were part of a Telegram group which perpetrated technology-facilitated violence—including the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images and deepfakes—and harassment against hundreds of women and girls. More than 60 civil society organizations and 150 media outlets issued an open letter calling for the Prishtina Basic Court to reject the deal.

Although women comprise nearly 10 percent of those receiving veterans’ benefits for wartime service, some report feeling that their contributions have gone unrecognized in society. While legal and policy frameworks have established protections and programs, patriarchal norms, discrimination and stigma can prevent women veterans from speaking out or fully accessing these resources.

Nearly three years after agreeing to the Declaration on Missing Persons, Kosovo and Serbia convened a joint commission in Brussels to begin cooperation and information sharing regarding the remains of those who are still missing—including many women. More than 25 years after the end of the war, this commission offers renewed hope for affected families, particularly mothers, wives, and daughters who continue to lead efforts to seek truth and accountability for their loved ones.

On November 11, 2025, Prishtina’s Basic Court sentenced a former member of the Serbian police for war crimes including sexual abuse of civilian detainees. Yet, prosecutions of high-profile defendants—including former president Hashim Thaci—face complications, including the condemnation of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court by foreign diplomats.