Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

the Kanun are valuable, and have long circulated amongst the people, but
they cannot be enforced over an entire population at all times. What, one
might ask, has been the behaviour towards raped women during the war
and in post-war Kosovo?
The Albanian families of Kosovo, whether small or large, modern or traditional,
rural or urban, preserve traditional elements and trace their values
to this customary law of Leke Dukagjini. These values are perhaps less
obvious and more difficult to notice in the reality of modern Kosovo, but
they are nonetheless near the surface, ready to emerge during any conflict
or interaction between the family and others. Traditional clothing, for
instance, which has often been associated with the isolation of women, is,
on a deeper level, both a security measure and a symbol of a morality to
which all adhere. Like this clothing, the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, though
closer to the experience of northern Albania, also provides for the physical
and moral integrity of women, protecting them from the hands of outsiders.
Conclusion
Psychosocial Notebook, Volume 2, October 2001
Following the armed conflict and the violence of Serbian forces in
Kosovo, violence aimed at women was, and remains, a source of suffering,
which, by common consent, is kept silent. No one will ever know for
certain how many women were raped in Kosovo. Newspaper headlines
and a few files in the offices of some NGOs may offer numbers, but without
any factual evidence. These numbers, as is often the case, oscillate
wildly on both sides of the spectrum. Some cite tens of thousands of rapes,
others fewer. Still others provide numbers that are merely of symbolic
relevance. One humanitarian worker concerned with the problems of raped
women even suggested that Kosovar women were less exposed to rape
then those of Bosnia, if only because the war in Kosovo lasted only a couple
of months, while the Bosnian war lasted a number of years. Still other
observers have come to the conclusion that the violence aimed at Kosovar
Albanian women was part of a greater strategy of ethnic cleansing, given
that the frailty of the Albanian family to the rape of women is well known.
This explanation would account for large numbers of violations. There is,
however, one certainty in this instance, that Kosovar Albanian women,
whether with their silence or open declarations about violence experienced,
are a tragic example of how violence is followed by further violence.
To speak openly, to clear one’s conscience, to accept and prove honesty
towards husband, children, parents and the community and as a result
to be ridiculed and thrown into the gutter; or to remain forever silent,
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