Kosovo/Kosova As Seen, As Told We arrived in an open field near an Orthodox church and a lake. It was still snowy and cold. We had to empty our pockets and my ID was torn. They took our clothes off and each of them raped us. We were raped more than once by each of them. After we were raped we had to enter the lake. The water went up to our chests. It was freezing. They also put our heads under the water for a while. They raped us again. They took my head and [forced me to perform] oral sex, while I was threatened with a stick. They made jokes on us. Then they played with the barrel of their rifle on our breasts. I told them that I would inform the police and they answered that if I did they would kill all the members of my family and burn our house. Some of them understood Albanian, because they could understand when we insulted them. I spat on them and they beat me. They left at 2 midnight. Collecting information on sexual violence: the approach taken by the OSCE-KVM 1 While victims of other kinds of human rights violations may be eager to tell the world what they have suffered, this is often not the case with victims of sexual violence. It is important to bear in mind that if, for instance, a woman is a survivor of sexual violence, she could face negative social responses. She should not be victimized a second time by being made an outcast in her own society. The OSCE-KVM was concerned to avoiding re-traumatizing survivors of sexual violence, and also to avoid, having taking statements from them, leaving them alone with their traumas afterwards. Although recounting the experience to another person can sometimes help a survivor of sexual violence, the traumas can often return more strongly after a time. The OSCE-KVM therefore strove to take a more holistic approach. By working in close collaboration with local women's NGOs from Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, it was able to find support for the women identified by the OSCE-KVM, and also to see that those who wanted to share their experience knew where to turn. This work was developed particularly in Cegrane Camp, where two "women's tents" had been installed by the Swedish NGO, KtK (see also the text box in Chapter 16, Women). Breaking the silence Traditionally in Kosovo Albanian society sexual violence is a topic that is met with a compact of silence. The stigma of rape is so deep that it is often stated that a "good" woman would rather kill herself than continue to live after having been raped. A woman who admits having been raped can be rejected or expelled by her husband, her family or her husband's family. A survey undertaken in April 1999 by the OSCE-KVM among the local NGOs showed that these also experienced extreme difficulties when trying to collect information on such crimes; some stated that they had given up even trying to gather information. It was also suggested that it might be easier for representatives of an international organization, as "outsiders", to gain the confidence of victims of sexual violence, since they would give them a greater sense of confidentiality. The OSCE-KVM was able to collect information on crimes of sexual violence from witnesses and http://www.osce.org/kosovo/documents/reports/hr/part1/ch7.htm (2 of 17)12/5/2003 11:51:55 AM