Sebahate Morina is the latest victim of femicide in Kosovo. Her murder on March 14 caused vast anger among women’s rights activists. They said that the 42-year-old’s murder is not an isolated incident, but the culmination of systematic violence toward girls and women in Kosovo.

Feminist activists and women’s rights organizations continually highlight that violence toward women is a societal problem and should be treated as a global pandemic. In this context, the media are a decisive factor in forming and raising general societal awareness of gender-based violence through reporting about it, their language usage and choice of stories.

The media usually reports — as in the case of Sebahate — that the institutions had not taken any additional action to ensure her protection and security. But is that enough? Could the media have a greater impact if the culture of misogyny occupied a larger place in daily and weekly coverage? If it became a part of the front pages of portals during the day, took up more space in the evening debates, and became the headline of the main news on national television? How influential can the media be to get women’s rights and gender-based violence to become part of the national discussion and political language?

To learn more about this, listen to the latest Konteksti episode moderated by our contributing editor, Dafina Halili. Giving a deep analysis about the content of Kosovar media and their vast potential to help the war for women’s rights, we talked to Adelina Berisha, a feminist activist from Kosovo Women’s Network, and Leonida Molliqaj, chief-in-editor of the feminist platform QIKA — Center for Information, Critique, and Action.[logo]

[highlight]Click here for the conversation transcript in English.[/highlight]

Author: Dafina Halili / K2.0

Guests: Adelina Berisha, program menager at Kosovo Women’s Network, and Leonida Molliqaj, editor-in-chief of the feminist platform QIKA — Center for Information, Critique, and Action.

Sound mix: Studio 11

Cover Image: K2.0

Production: Dibran Sejdiu / K2.0

This podcast is realized with the support of National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Views expressed in it do not represent those of NED.

Media and gender-based violence

What is the media's role in preventing gender-based violence?

Konteksti Podcast