Amnesty for sexual harassment

On February 27, students of the Faculty of Medicine denounced the professor of the Faculty of Education, Xhevat Krasniqi, for sexual harassment. This is the first time that 27 complaints have been addressed to a professor. The Ethics Council began handling the case only in April, although the regulation provides for the parties to be interviewed within five days after the violation was reported. Council delays fueled protests. And even when it held a hearing, the Council decided to verify the signatures, since the accused professor stated during his interview that nine of them are forged

The former excitement for the epithet "student" has faded. The academic premises of the University of Pristina for him now symbolize physical uncertainty, not a temple of knowledge. The academic journey to realize the lifelong dream for her and 26 other girls has turned into anxiety.

Instead of an explanation about swimming, a student of the Faculty of Medicine received an offer from the professor to give her a massage. 

After the offer that she called shocking, a hug from the professor followed. But she was not the only one. Together with 26 other students, she denounced the professor, Xhevat Krasniqi, for sexual harassment.

Her testimony in the Ethics Council, the body responsible for dealing with serious violations, lasted 10 minutes. In her confession as a victim of sexual harassment, the student says she was not heard by the four male members. 

"The members of the Ethics Council did not have a good approach with me personally, nor with the other students who held meetings with him. For the case in question, which we reported for sexual harassment, they did not allow me to express how we felt emotionally, when the professor sexually harassed us, nor did they show that sexual harassment is a criminal offense in order to refer us to the competent authorities. towards the justice bodies, taking into account that the president is a lawyer and comes from the Faculty of Law, so in addition to not allowing us to show our emotional state, they also did not allow us to show our cases, even though it was the reason why they called us", said the student, who asked to remain anonymous.

also Arberi April 11, 2025 A year after being reported for sexual harassment, an indictment is filed against Professor Xhevat Krasniqi

Delay in treatment

On February 27, 27 students at the Faculty of Medicine denounced the professor of the Faculty of Education, Xhevat Krasniqi, for sexual harassment. Until the denunciation, Professor Krasniqi taught mathematics at the Faculty of Medicine. The Ethics Council began handling the case only in April, although the regulation provides for the parties to be interviewed within five days after the violation was reported. 

Council delays fueled protests. The actions of the members of the Council, Iset Morina, Skënder Muji, Arben Hajdari and Rrezeart Galica, were qualified as a tendency to drag out the case. The students of the Student Feminist Movement protested for six days with the request that the professor be expelled. There were also calls for the dismissal of Council members. In an effort to protect the dignity of the students, they also confronted the police. They blocked the door of the Rectorate building three times, preventing the members of the Council from leaving. They did not back down from their request, which was a decision to dismiss the professor. The members of the Council did not make a decision, they got out of the Rectorate with the intervention of the police. And this pressure caused the Ethics Council to hold an open hearing for the first time since its establishment. 

The students also called this session disappointing. Professor Krasniqi's comments and offers were assessed by the head of the Council, Iset Morina, as inappropriate language. The term sexual harassment was mentioned three times, and members were interested in knowing more about the grades the professor assigned them. 

"During my interview, I also gave other names who were witnesses, but today they were not called together with other witnesses, and the reason is that I think the student in question, whose name I told her during the meeting, passed the exam, "The Council wants to call only those who have not passed the exam, using as a justification that we blackmailed them in relation to the case, since our professor did not pass the exam", said the reporting student.

This is the first time that 27 complaints have been addressed to a professor. The council has decided to verify the signatures, as the accused professor stated during his interview that nine of them are forged.

Such an action, for Anita Mjekun, who is a student at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as an activist in the Student Feminist Movement, sends the wrong message to the victims. 

According to her, this demotivates the students and motivates the offenders. 

"Starting with the rector, vice-rectors, the Senate, the Governing Council of the University of Prishtina, the deans and the professors, they know what sexual harassment is and they know that considering the patriarchal system in which we find ourselves and the University of Pristina as a rather patriarchal institution and insecure about girls and women, taking the courage to report sexual harassment requires a certain struggle with the people around because there is a certain stigma that is given to the victims from the neighborhood, from society, from the family. They know that the reported cases have a very small probability of being untrue and they are real cases, but they call on the one with the silence of the chikas and do not want to create a precedent for other cases", says the Doctor.

The professor continues to give regular lectures at the Faculty of Education, when he is accused of sexual harassment of students. While the protesters see this as a threat to the students, who have contact with the professor, the Rectorate of the UP estimates that there is no reason to dramatize the case. The Rectors have stated that the denunciations are being treated urgently by the Council. 

A student of the Faculty of Philology also felt without institutional support. Two years ago, she reported her former professor, Bekim Bejta, for harassment. The members of the Council did not show willingness to listen to the psychological violence that he had experienced during the lectures. She says on condition of anonymity that during the interview she was verbally attacked by the Council.  

"They were more focused on whether the professor comes prepared to the lecture, is he late. Do I think that the professor is professionally prepared and they asked about the statements that the students had marked against me in favor of the professor at his request. But the Council of Ethics has not been introduced at all, I did not know exactly what I am talking about, from which faculty those professors are. And the leader, who is Iset Morina, who I later found out who he is, interrupted me twice, telling me that he can stop the process at any time for any reason", emphasized the student who earlier denounced the professor Beita.

also Arberi 10 May 2024 The Council of Ethics will resume the disciplinary procedures against Krasniqi after the investigations by the justice bodies

According to the Criminal Code of Kosovo, sexual harassment means any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature, with the purpose of violating the dignity or that violates the dignity of the person and creates an environment which is objectively intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating. Such action is a criminal offense and is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three years.

For the reporting of sexual harassment against 27 female students, the Basic Prosecutor's Office of Pristina was activated one month after the denunciation. This institution engaged the Police in gathering information about the case. 

And, according to lawyer Anton Nrecaj, the Prosecutor's Office is late in its actions.

"In this situation, if we refer to justice, it really leaves something to be desired, starting from that chain link, the Police, the Prosecutor and the Court, and it leaves something to be desired because in such situations, at the moment when it is also reported in the media, the State Prosecutor's Office , according to his official duty, he has a legal obligation to invite the reporters", says Nrecaj.

The rejection of cases by institutions

The serious mishandling of reports of sexual harassment has also occurred at the pre-university level. A student in the Municipality of Suhareka reported her professor for sexual assault two years ago. However, her case was not dealt with institutionally. 

She indicated on condition of anonymity that she still continues to maintain the learning process in a facility with her bully. 

"Totally shocked after the professor touched me and addressed me with intimate words, I decided to report to the school director. Even when I reported it, I didn't expect that they would take me seriously, nor that the professor would be punished, but I was shocked and decided to tell the directorate so that they are aware of what happened. The professor has been banned from teaching in my class, but I continue to see him in the corridor every day. Then, my family also insisted that they talk to the professor and solve this issue and not involve the police, so that it becomes big. I also don't want the whole school to find out, because I know that they are only pressuring me with words", says the student.

Ditjon Fetahu, director of the Kosovar Youth Council, says that there is a mentality among school management that hiding these cases preserves the institution's image. 

"Schools have this feeling of not reporting the problems or extinguishing the problems that are reported by the students with the idea or on the basis that if these become public then the image of the school or the name of the school will be muddied and it has been the same even further. This is a very big problem, so it is very important to understand and try to raise awareness that the school damages its name if it tries to cover up a problem", says Fetahu.
The Ministry of Education admits that there is a tendency to hide these cases from schools. Only two cases of sexual harassment have been reported in the Education Information Management System during these two years. And within these figures, the experience of the student in Suhareka is not included.
A report by the Student Council of Kosovo two years ago showed that sexual harassment is present in school spaces. In a questionnaire with high school students, 35 percent stated that they know at least one teacher who is a sexual harasser. 

This figure did not alarm the decision-making institutions. Fetahu says that the central level mobilizes only when the cases become media.  

"At the level of the Ministry of Education, we also had a working group that was initiated, which has the name for friendly schools, for friendly schools, but this group, although it had several meetings, initiated to carry out the work plans after that came out, violence and harassment in schools was no longer a media topic, then there was a delay in implementation, there were several awareness campaigns regarding online sexual harassment, but they are not enough to reach the voice of young men and women", he says.

also EVENING NEWS April 23, 2024 The professor denounced for sexual harassment of female students is suspended

While the Ministry sees the problem of not addressing reports of sexual harassment in school management, its policies are focused on students. This institution declares that actions have been taken to raise students' awareness of sexual harassment. They envision achieving this through sexual education that is realized through curricular areas, such as the subjects of natural science, society and the environment, and physical education. 

According to research published in the National Institute of Health, sexual harassment causes long-term damage to victims. In the research done with high school students in the United States of America, who have experienced sexual harassment by their teachers, it turns out that not treating the trauma has affected their performance in the academic journey.