‘Today we march, every day we fight’
In photos: the March 8 call for gender justice.
As the names of women murdered by their intimate partners, husbands or other family members echoed through the streets, protesters marched through Prishtina on Saturday, March 8, to mark International Women’s Day.
They called for “not one more” name to be added to the growing list of femicide victims in Kosovo. The march was held under the slogan “We march for one another” — Marshojmë për njana-tjetrën — an expression of solidarity from women to women, in a context where deeply-rooted patriarchy makes leaning on one another the safest place for women.
The Marshojmë s’festojmë collective organized the march through a participatory process, in which the public was invited to join preparations over a month before the march took place. Activists gathered in different parts of the city, including Termokiss community center and University of Prishtina Student Center, to fundraise and work on the messages and materials of the march.
At one of Prishtina’s main police stations, protesters hurled red paint and flares: striking symbols of the blood of murdered women and a call for a stronger mobilization by the police to protect women. Kosovo Police has failed to prevent femicide on a number of occasions, like those of Sebahate Morina in 2021 and Hamide Magashi in 2022, by failing to implement court decisions and respond effectively to victims’ calls for protection.
A few steps after the police station, protesters marched past a white flag with red letters hanging off a tall building. The flag read: “A better future is possible.” The present, however, is grim for women in Kosovo.
Just days before the march, it was reported that a young woman, who, in 2022, was raped for seven hours by five men in a public park in Prishtina when she was 11, was recently raped again by dozens of men. The victim was known for the Center for Social Work, making this case an even starker example of recurrent institutional failure to stand up for women.
Femicide — the intentional killing of women because of their gender — has cut short the lives of far too many Kosovar women. 58 women were killed in Kosovo from 2010 to April 2024. Their names were read aloud throughout the march, reminding everyone that they are not to be forgotten.
Domestic abuse or gender-based violence, often precursors to femicide, loom large in Kosovo. The Ministry of Justice identified 2,385 women as victims of domestic violence in 2024. This was a 12.5% increase from 2023, when 2,120 women reported being victims of domestic violence. These numbers most likely do not tell the full story, as many cases go unreported due to a lack of trust in institutional responses.
Moreover, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and other forms of discrimination continue to intersect with patriarchy, creating multilayered oppression against women. This oppression often goes unnoticed and unaddressed.
The protesters loudly condemned institutional inaction and complicity, chanting: “The state remains silent as women are killed,” “The courts, the police, the state have women’s blood on their hands” and “How many more missed calls?”
They also called for welfare policies, not a one-off “payment for reproduction.” This was a response to politicians’ rhetoric during the recent electoral campaign in Kosovo. While all bigger parties proposed some form of payment to women upon childbirth, they fell short in proposing other policies that ensure consistent support for women.
As usual, the march ended in front of the government building, which was not heavily guarded by regular and special police forces, as was the case in 2024. It remains to be seen how or whether Kosovo’s next government will respond to activists’ longstanding demands.
Photos: Lum Hajrullahu / K2.0.
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- This story was originally written in English.