Recognition is not accountability
Kosovo survivors of conflict-related sexual violence deserve both.
Every year that passes without renewed action narrows the window for achieving accountability and justice.
A permanent, public memorial does something that legal processes cannot: it places a crime in public space, where it cannot be quietly set aside.
On 19 June, Kosovo’s institutions, civil society and international partners should mark the day with more than ceremony.
Rebecca Hawkins
Rebecca Hawkins is a British sculptor whose work has focused on memorialization, honoring victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Her most recent piece, Petrified Survivors, the world’s first memorial dedicated to all survivors and victims of CRSV, was unveiled in The Hague in July 2025 and is on display in Berlin until September 2027.
Veprore Shehu
Veprore Shehu is the Executive Director of Medica Kosova, an NGO that provides survivors of CRSV in Kosovo with legal and psychological support, and one of the partner organizations involved in the creation of Petrified Survivors.
DISCLAIMERThe views of the writer do not necessarily reflect the views of Kosovo 2.0.
This story was originally written in English.