Women

Hidden violence in Kosovo

05/09/2011 -  Francesco Gradari

Police in Kosovo register over 1,000 officially-reported episodes of domestic violence every year and four out of five victims are women. However, official data is just the tip of the iceberg – not many women dare denounce their agressors

Sexist advertisement in Chişinău

25/07/2011 -  Natalia Ghilaşcu Chişinău

Sexist advertisements are invading Chişinău, the capital of Moldova. The image of the woman depicted is clear: sexy and beautiful, a good servant for men, a hardworking housewife. Two companies using such advertisement have already been sued. But people still bump into billboards with sexy women all over. A feature story

BiH: Domestic violence in a complex institutional setting

21/02/2011 -  OWPSEE/OBC

The protection of victims of domestic violence in Bosnia Herzegovina is guaranteed by a number of laws, but more often than not they are not enforced. In the background a society that is still very patriarchal and the heavy institutional burden left by the Dayton Peace Agreement. Our analysis

Macedonia: violence at home

28/01/2011 -  Dejan Georgievski* Skopje

Domestic violence is a widespread phenomenon in Macedonia. According to NGOs working on this issue its causes are mainly a consequence of a society that is still very patriarchal. Our review

Chechnya, choked by headscarves

20/10/2010 -  Tanya Lokshina

In Chechnya there is official support for attacks on women when they are considered to have ‘flouted’ Islamic rules by not wearing a headscarf or covering up enough. Tanya Lokshina listened to some of the women’s despairing accounts. From openDemocracy.net

A new story from Chechnya: Tamara

06/10/2010 -  Majnat Kurbanova

In the eighties Tamara was a teacher of Russian language and literature in Chechnya. Since the year 2000 she has had to cope with not only the disappearance of her husband but also breast cancer, an illness with a particularly high incidence in Chechnya after the recent wars

Between Albania and Macedonia: Patriarchal loves

29/09/2010 -  Marjola Rukaj Tirana

On the bus from Tirana to Skopje there are many young women with children. They have just visited their relatives, in Northern Albania, and are now going back to their houses in Macedonia. In this report, a story of migration and arranged marriages

Facing violence at home

18/08/2009 -  Arzu Geybullayeva Baku

Domestic violence is a taboo topic in Azerbaijan. Every attempt to discuss issues that touch the private, family realm is perceived as a threat to the country's national identity

Konstantina's tenacity

06/03/2009 -  Gilda Lyghounis

She came to Greece seven years ago as a migrant. Ever since, she has been fighting for the rights of the "modern slaves", the cleaners. Until a dramatic attempt to silence her forever. This is the story of Konstantina Kuneva, the symbol of 8 March in Greece

Bulgarians, a vanishing people?

14/02/2006 -  Francesco Martino Sofia

Ethnic Bulgarians have a very low birth rate. According to some, this could put at risk the economic growth, while others are afraid of the unstoppable growth of the Turkish and Roma communities. Bulgaria is stirred by demographic anguish, and now president Parvanov decided to act