Over the last few days, events or protests for women’s rights have been held across the world. It is a sad fact that the first protests for women’s rights were held 170 years ago! In the Balkans, the first such protests were recorded in Bulgaria in 1850. The first organization that brought together women in the former Yugoslavia was founded in 1919. More than a century later reasons to protest still exist.
In the past 10 years of the broadcasting of PERSPEKTIVA, young people have shared shocking examples of crimes against women, of the undermining to which they are subjected daily. Blend from Kosovo notices that the problem lies in the system, not in individual excesses. Ivana from Novi Sad also supports this view.
A pregnant woman was killed in the middle of a hospital. Her husband killed her. In a public institution. Then we had the case of the serial rape of a 14-year-old girl. She was systematically raped. First, by the doctor she went to for an abortion, then by the policeman she went to report the case to. And I don’t remember who else she turned to. So, the girl was raped by the system set up in Kosovo.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/32914444.html
Ivana from Novi Sad
How can I, today, tomorrow, on the topic of rape, God forbid someone rapes me, how can I go to a policeman, who is a man, and say someone raped me? Were you wearing a skirt? What if I was. Were you out at three in the morning? What if I was. So, you’re to blame. And that’s simply the opinion prevalent in society. You’re to blame for things like that.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/32411065.html
The participants of PERSPECTIVA from Montenegro were especially sharp, with good reason. Milica, Jelena, Tamara, and Natalija said:
Milica from Podgorica
If women, or anyone, but especially women, did not have men from the monastery determining what their life should look like, I think we would be much better off.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-crna-gora-mladi/32814343.html
Jelena from Podgorica
I see that Montenegrin society acknowledges that in Montenegrin society there is a phenomenon of ‘the male child, the Montenegrin son. It is fascinating to me that they say my brother is an only child, while there are five of us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u98tBMFJQy4&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
Tamara from Podgorica
When a woman gets married, she is expected to give up her identity, renounce her last name, and take her husband’s last name. This is considered normal. A woman who keeps her maiden name and doesn’t take her husband’s surname is seen as an exception, as if she’s “not normal”—a feminist who is being pretentious. Then, the classic question arises: shouldn’t a woman have the same last name as her husband and child? But, why shouldn’t a husband take his wife’s last name, so they both share the same surname as their child?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u98tBMFJQy4&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
Jelena from Podgorica
We live in a society where, instead of guiding young people toward knowledge, learning, and progress, there’s an environment that tells them, “That’s not for you, you can’t do that because you’re a woman.” And so, we must prove ourselves—fight, push, climb over obstacles—so we won’t be trampled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQMaupUnJkQ&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
Natalija from Podgorica
I am still concerned about why women in Montenegro are oppressed, and why it’s considered normal for my current or future husband to have the right to raise his hand against me, while I do not have that right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k8p5XNKEEY&ab_channel=RadioSlobodnaEvropa
Participants from other countries highlight the same problems and causes as Polina, Amelina, and Sara confirm:
Polina from Belgrade
I don’t want to face obstacles simply because I’m a woman, or be told that I should stay at home and be a housewife. I’m constantly confronted with questions about when I’ll have children or when the wedding will take place.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-beograd-20-02-22/31712505.html
Amelina from Belgrade
As a woman, I’ve never felt safe on the streets. I’ve also enrolled in martial arts to learn to defend myself, even though no one has stabbed me with a knife. That’s the worst, worst thing they can do to you, I have been sexually assaulted many times, touched on trams.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/perspektiva-beograd-mladi-nasilje-sigurnost/32904725.html
Sara
It shouldn’t be just a women’s issue; I don’t think men should neglect this topic either. It’s not easy for them, either. They often learn about sex from pornography, which is probably the biggest problem. This creates later issues, as they struggle to be satisfied with their partners because they often expect a porn star, and they don’t get that.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/31197904.html
Hamnie from Kosovo says that aggression toward women is incomparably greater than toward men.
Hamnie
Here, we see the contextualization of women as property. There is no aggression shown toward other men.
https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/kosovo-mladi-proslost-rat-nasilje-zene/32953697.html
In the Western Balkans, half of all murdered women were killed by their husbands, often in their own homes. More than half of the women in Bosnia and Herzegovina have experienced violence from their partners. And 84% of these incidents of violence were never reported. In the last four years, nearly 150 women have been killed in Serbia. Must it take another century for women to achieve equality?
