Domestic Violence and abuse
Domestic abuse is behavior from a family member, partner or ex-partner that is controlling, coercive, threatening, violent or abusive
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to men or women. It includes the following types of abuse:
- psychological
- physical
- sexual
- financial
- emotional
Domestic violence and abuse can include harassment, stalking, female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
If you've been affected
If you are the victim of an abusive relationship, you might want to:
- find somewhere safe to stay
- stay in your home and get the person who is harming you to leave
- report the violence to the police
- get a court order to stop your abuser from harming or threatening you
- take legal action
- get help from an CSO working with LGBTI persons
Whatever you want to do, there are organizationssuch as CSGD that can give you advice and help.
Finding somewhere safe to stay
You may need somewhere safe to stay.
You could:
- stay at home - if you think this is safe
- stay with relatives or friends
- get emergency accommodation from the CSO’s who provide shelters for LGBTI persons
- get privately rented accommodation, if you can afford it.
Reporting the violence to the police
Domestic violence is a criminal offence and the police can arrest, caution or charge the perpetrator.
Most police stations have Domestic Violence Units with specially trained officers to deal with domestic violence and abuse.
You should call 192 in an emergency or you can attend a police station in person to report an incident. Make sure you ask for your crime reference number which you may need if you contact other agencies/organizations for help. If you're worried about going to the police, you can contact us for support and we will join you to the police. You can find more information about CSGD at: www.csgd-ks.org
Taking legal action
If you need further help, you should get advice from:
A) A specialized CSO - There are several CSO that are specialized in working with LGBT or HIV positive persons who also provide free legal advice and representation (add a paragraph about CSGD, your online platform and how you can be reached).
B) A lawyer - Depending on your financial situation, you should consider to go to a lawyer, if you can afford it. You can decide whom to hire (and fire) as your lawyer. However, remember that when you fire a lawyer, you may be charged a reasonable amount for the work already done. When you agree to hire a lawyer and that lawyer agrees to legally represent you, a two-way relationship begins in which you both have the same goal - to reach a satisfactory resolution to a legal matter. To this end, each of you must act responsibly toward a lawyer-client relationship, acting responsibly involves duties on both sides. Every lawyer must act carefully and in a timely manner in handling a client’s legal problem. You can find the names and contact information of licensed lawyers in this link: http://www.oak-ks.org/sq/lista-e-avokateve.
C)Free Legal Aid Agency - But if you can’t afford a lawyer or you are not interested on reaching out to an CSO or hiring a lawyer you can go to the Free Legal Aid Agency. The Kosovo Constitution guarantees the right to free legal assistance. In 2012, the Kosovo Assembly adopted the Law on Free Legal Aid (the Law), which guarantees free legal aid during criminal proceedings for individuals charged with a criminal offence who do not have sufficient financial means pay for legal representation. For more information about Free Legal Aid Agency go to https://anjf.rks-gov.net/. By clicking on the following link, all citizens now have the opportunity to apply online for free legal aid, respectively in the municipality / region where they come from: https://ndihmajuridike.com/.