Euroviews. Women are being murdered in the Western Balkans, and it is time to take action

On 17 April, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani declared a national day of mourning to commemorate all women and girls killed through femicide.

That week, two Kosovar women, Gjyljeta Ukella and Erona Cokli, were killed by their husbands, bringing the number of femicide cases to 55 since 2010, in a country of only 1.8 million people. 

This is not just one country's problem. The number of women and girls who have been murdered in the Western Balkans is tragically on the rise.

Femicide, defined as the gender-related killing of women and girls, is the most extreme form of violence against women. In the Western Balkans, gender-based violence — particularly femicide — remains a severe and wide-reaching threat.

In 2020 and 2021, over 100 women were killed in the Western Balkans, around half of whom were from Serbia. Women from ages 46 to 55 were most likely to be victims of femicide, with 20% of victims under 30 years old. 

Half of femicide victims were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands, and in their own house or apartment.

While femicide has been documented worldwide, the Western Balkans is especially susceptible to this tragic phenomenon. 

As patriarchal gender norms are deeply entrenched in the region, power imbalances between men and women are particularly strong at home and in the public sector. The gender pay gap ranges from 20 to 39%, as women’s socioeconomic status lags far behind the men’s.

The Western Balkans is unique for its legacy of war, economic insecurity, and history of conflict-related sexual violence against women. These factors have contributed to an environment of poverty, conflict, and intergenerational trauma, where domestic violence is widely accepted as part of the status quo.

Studies have shown that women with