The year 2025 marked an important turning point for survivors of sexual violence in Kosovo.

A man in his fifties from Drenas confessed publicly for the first time about sexual rape.

Ramadan Nishori, who kept silent for more than 26 years about the horror he experienced, on the Memorial Day of Survivors of Sexual Violence, on April 14, recounted the entire event to Kosovar society.

After going public, he tells KosovaPress that he feels spiritually freer and that he never expected this support from citizens.

His story has encouraged other men, as well as women, to come forward to organizations to seek psychological and legal help and to apply for status recognition.

"It's not said that every survivor, because to come out publicly, there are a few more steps, they have to go through it. Even so, it's not just about coming out and speaking publicly. No. Let them come to organizations, let them seek help first. That is salvation. As I have mentioned several times, many times before coming to the organization, I thought about harming myself. And now I know, I know what those people get away with. Because I have gone through that," Nishori confesses.

His life after April 14th of last year has changed a lot.

The first man to speak out publicly about sexual assault says that if he had known he would receive this support, he would have spoken out much sooner.

"Yes, since April 14, to be honest, I am freer spiritually. When I see the support everyone is giving me, like on the street today, when a person stops me on the street and says, is it possible to have a coffee with you, it is a great respect. The days after, really, the days after I have this support like this, I would have come out earlier. Because I feel like a much more liberated person," he adds to KosovaPress.

Dani, as his circle and family call him, says that support from others is crucial for survivors to break the silence.

"After speaking publicly, I said that if even one survivor comes to ask for help, I have accomplished my mission. Yes, more have come. So I am very happy with this. And I always appeal to you, in every interview, it does not matter which organization you go to, where you feel freer. Because I know, I myself when I went through that, I would come to an organization where you are closer, like if you are shooting someone you know or someone sees me, that's how those prejudices come in and come to you by themselves. And so I appeal to you, let them come to the organizations. There are four organizations. Where they feel freer, let them come, let them ask for help. That this is salvation for them. Now they apply for recognition of status, this is also salvation for them," he concludes.

Ramadan Nishori's public confession has broken another taboo, says Feride Rushiti, director of the Kosovo Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors (KRRT). She says that after his confession, many men have come forward to the organization for the first time.

"Dani's story has broken another taboo. It has shown that men can also be affected by sexual violence during the war. His courage, which he has managed to prove through his story and send positive messages to invite men and other women to apply, has then encouraged, not only in our organization, but also in other organizations, for both women and men to come and seek services, but also their rights, so we think that Dani's story and courage have challenged once and for all and put an end to the taboo in relation to men affected by sexual violence during the war," says Rushiti.

According to data from the Government Commission for the Recognition of the Status of Victims of Sexual Violence during the War, over 2300 men and women applied last year.

"This year, the Commission has reviewed 270 cases, including new cases, re-examinations and other requests. There are 39 applications in the process. Since the beginning of the process on 05.02.2018 until today, we have received a total of 2396 applications, of which 1884 applicants (1776 women and 108 men) have been recognized as victims of sexual violence during the war," the response to KosovaPress states.

The director of the KRCT, Feride Rushiti, considers the past year a year of justice. She says that they have worked with a large number of women to prepare themselves to give their testimonies about the horrors they have experienced.

"With previous convictions, we have reached 58 years of sentences for people who were involved in crimes of sexual violence during the war, but there are 12 more indictments filed, which are in the process, and for each case, the Kosovo Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors, with a professional team, which has an integrated approach in the psycho-social and legal aspects, has worked and is working so that the cases can prove their truth, despite the fact that we are 26 years after the war. Let's not forget that these women also have consequences, and the neurobiological aspect of the trauma makes it difficult for them to prove the complete mosaic of trauma later, so we are working so that these can prove successfully and achieve justice," she says.

Rushiti adds that the cases that were first reported last year have serious health consequences due to silence.

"I want to say that this year, last year we have had cases that have come in that are significantly different from the cases that were treated earlier. These women and these men, because they have internalized their pain, their silence for years. Then they have developed other organic problems. They have come in with gastrointestinal disorders, they have come in with tension disorders, hormonal disorders, headaches, that is, that somatization that has not been treated over the years, they have not managed to find a way to discharge their pain in a professional way, then it has left health consequences, which we regret, but the cases that are coming in, that is, they are more complicated cases compared to those who have received longer-term treatments and who have come in the early stages of their trauma," she concludes.

The first woman to share her story of sexual assault during the recent war in Kosovo was Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman. Later, Shyrete Tahiri Sulimani publicly filed a criminal complaint with the Special Prosecution Office regarding her case.

The number of people raped during the recent war in Kosovo is unknown, but reports suggest around 20. Meanwhile, the application for recognition of status began in 2018. /KP/

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