Peja, July 16 – Today, a coordinating meeting was held with the institutions whose mandate is to protect the child and the family from abuse. The meeting was based on the work plan that the Municipality of Peja has for this issue. His topic was the increase in cases of domestic violence during the pandemic, with a special emphasis on protecting children from this violence and providing timely services to them and their families.

The purpose of the meeting was the coordination and commitment of the responsible institutions during the pandemic in the protection of the child and the family from violence, as a disturbing phenomenon that has increased during this period.

The Kosovo Police, based on internal statistics and reports, said that domestic violence has increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Referring to the reports of this security institution, most of the victims of this phenomenon are women. Even though women make up the majority of victims, it was emphasized that there were also two cases where the victims of domestic violence were children.

Worrying is the increase in domestic violence regardless of who is the victim. This phenomenon has alerted the institutions to take additional actions for prevention. Equally disturbing is the experience of violence, which is caused to the physical and psychological health of children. Even though they were not direct victims of violence, they experience or have experienced psychological and emotional violence, it was concluded at the meeting.

That domestic violence is on the rise in the municipality of Peja was also confirmed by other institutions that deal with training and the provision of relevant services, such as the Center for Social Work, the Center for Women’s Welfare – Safe House, the Probation Service and municipal institutions .

All those present at this meeting agreed that the situation created during this time with the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the economic and social condition of many families, which is greatly affecting the increase in psychological and emotional pressure and all this is returning in violence.

It has also been assessed that despite good coordination and cooperation, there is an increased need to further intensify the inter-institutional chain. The need for more frequent meetings and communication between governmental and non-governmental actors to prevent domestic violence and protect children from this phenomenon was also emphasized.

The meeting was held within the framework of the thematic program in the field of child protection and governance with children’s rights “Our Obligation to the Future – Protection of Children and Governance of Children’s Rights”.

________________