I AS A GIRL
Illustration: Argjira Kukaj
Throughout many years we’ve recognized a favoritism of one gender over the other.
We recognize patriarchy as a universal phenomenon in Kosovo, making victims of its mentality many girls and women who suffer from the inability of access to their inheritance, namely from their parents. When the subject of property inheritance comes up the girl is not considered even though she is a child of the parents just like the boy. She is considered as a person that is unworthy of managing fortune, as a person that does not have inheritance rights since she faces a separation into another family, she feels incapable compared to the boy who is seen as superior and many reasons that come as a result of tradition. But are they true? Absolutely not.
“Lorena is an 18 year old girl from Istog, she is one of many girls that have faced this problem. She says that the subject of inheritance often comes up in her family. But every time she tries/can say something, and raise her voice for her rights, she faces obstacles.
“They say don’t talk, you’re the last person who should be dealing with this, this doesn’t belong to you, you’re a girl and there’s people here who can talk about this and they say that a girl who takes her inheritance doesn’t have a place at home anymore. And they start taking examples of some girls who have taken inheritance and they laugh at them even though they know about the law of gender equality and that me and my brother should have equal inheritance. But they still make distinctions and I think that this thing is not okay and I feel discriminated and I feel very bad”, she says.
For the favoritism of boys and men over girls and women in real estate inheritance, “European Union Rule of Law Mission Kosovo” has issued a report that presents complications by identifying certain legislative cases and offering recommendations to relevant institutions.
“Recommendations can help notaries, courts, communal offices of civil registration and other authorities to better clarify legal shortcomings that threaten women and as a result can enforce their role as a guarantee for gender equality”, it is written in the report. The percentage of real estate owned by women is also highlighted there by the document “The Project for Real Estate Property and Cadaster- RECAP, yearly survey of services fulfilling costumers’ needs- Phase Two” of the year 2014. This document show that Kosovo has the lowest percentage of real estate property owned by women in the Balkan region, 16 %.
“Furthermore, women are often discouraged to accept or asks for their inheritance rights and most of them can be uninformed regarding legal rights”, it is specified in the report.
And as for the rights of inheritance as a girl *Almedina, a 17 years old girl from Prishtina, also talks about it, who expresses that she’s from a family where logic still lies on Kanun and tradition, especially when it comes to inheritance.
“I also attempt to talk about this subject, but they immediately say that you don’t need to meddle in men’s business, and it also happened that I cried for this thing because when you don’t have implemented rights to be documented by law then you don’t have anything else to expect. My dad knows that I have a right to inheritance by law, but he says that law doesn’t concern him, that I’ll get married and I can talk there but not here. He often expresses that he doesn’t want the husband to intrude on our inheritance and for this reason he doesn’t want us to inherit property, even though I stated that the property is a right of mine”, says Almedina, as she confesses that as a girl she feels very bad when injustice is faced even in elementary points in life. But this does not make her stop.
“I will never stop, I’m going to fight till the end for all girls and women that have fallen prey to these traditional problems”, she added.
Fitim, a 22 years old boy, also sees threatening of girls’ inheritance laws as a major problem and according to him the main problem resides in the mentality in which the girl is accounted for as a member of another family and this mistake is justified with the fact that her property lies at her husband.
“Regardless of whether she gets married or not, the inheritance rights of the family she was born and raised in belong to the girl (whether it be land, money, or even just a bed to sleep in). The inheritance at her father’s family is her safety for the future. If she gets married and the marriage doesn’t work, at least she will have a place or property in her deed that she can use. But even if she doesn’t get married at all she will have property that she can use for her wellbeing. To keep it short: It belongs to her for the simple fact that she has the family blood and the daily contribution she gives equal to the boy of the house”, he noted.
*The names Lorena and Almedina have been used with the aim of preserving anonymity.
About the author: Arlindë Kuqi is a 17 years old girl from Prishtina, a high school student and activist of human rights with a focus on gender equality.
This activity is supported by Engagement for Equity Program – E4E, financed by United States Agency for International Development – USAID, and implemented by Advocacy Training and
Resource Center –ATRC.
