A better response for victims of domestic violence in Kosovo

Overcoming the obstacles

Social workers strive to ensure a safe environment for all members of Kosovo's society, yet many obstacles still stand in their way.

"Social workers have limited resources to provide effective services to victims of domestic violence," says OSCE Human Rights Adviser Alma Begicevic.

Prekazi, who is now Director of Social Welfare in Kosovo's northern city of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, started out as a social worker in 1989. "The police, NGOs, courts, schools and social workers all respond to cases of domestic abuse, but we are not well co-ordinated," he says.

To make matters worse, social workers are unable to keep up with Kosovo's rapidly-changing legal landscape. They do not receive adequate information about new laws on domestic abuse, and as a result, decisions are made that do not make full use of all the applicable legislation.

"Because we are overloaded with our single-handed response efforts, we miss opportunities to use the most helpful laws," adds Prekazi.

Help in a handbook

To help the social workers keep up, the OSCE Mission to Kosovo supported the development of the Manual for Responding to Incidents of Domestic Violence, which was formally presented to the provisional government's Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare on 9 March 2006.

Key chapters of the manual outline how to build co-ordinated response systems, how to apply the relevant legislation and how to handle individual cases. Also included is information on case management, good practices and general victim support as well as tools such as sample questionnaires.

The book includes both the Mission's theoretical insight and the Department for Social Welfare's experiences from the field. "It is the first time all this theory and practice is available in one easy to use book," says Prekazi.

The manual has been distributed to some 250 social workers throughout Kosovo in both Albanian and Serbian.

Providing better assistance

The chapter on building response systems explains how social workers and other actors can network, co-ordinate services, organize training and reach out to the public. "Closer co-operation will pave the way for greater understanding of the different roles and responsibilities involved, improving the overall situation," says Begicevic.

To help social workers to better understand the new laws, the manual applies these laws to common scenarios. The same method is used for handling individual cases, with guidance on subjects ranging from risk assessment and counseling to crisis intervention and protection orders.

"I find the clarification of protection order forms very helpful," says Prekazi. "When someone comes in to report an incident, we need to request a regular, emergency or interim emergency protection order form. The manual clearly explains the requirements for each one."

These clarifications will speed up the court petitioning process and provide the courts with better definitions to use when assessing a victim's needs.

Step in the right direction

The manual is only one element of the OSCE Mission's activities that aim to curb domestic violence and it will improve the assistance victims receive. In recent years, the OSCE has carried out a variety of activities to help tackle the problem, including organizing public awareness campaigns, workshops and seminars, and supporting shelters.

The Mission also continues to support anti-trafficking activities and to recommend legal and policy reforms to relevant family and social welfare laws.