Rafaela Prifti/
The Albanian community stood up and spoke out at a midtown Saturday rally in support of protecting women and girls facing acts of sexual violence. It is part of a unifying solidarity movement with rallies in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia. The recent reported rape of an eleven year old girl by five Albanian males in Kosovo prompted broad bursts of outrage last month. The public outcry over the incident intensified after the prosecution’s handling of the case. Aiming to “change the narrative” associated with the acts of sexual violence, and supported by local groups and politicians, two New York based organizers, Djellza Pulatani, an activist Fordham University student and Suada Demiri, advocate and financial analyst, called the rally, held nearby the offices of the Consulate General of Kosovo in New York.
“We stand here to change the narrative. The shame of rape is not for the survivors to bare but for the perpetrators. We will display their names…They will be the ones to bring shame to their families. They have no place in our community,” said Suada Demiri. Some protesters held up signs showing the names, written in black sharpie, of the perpetrators of the rape, as reported to Kosova authorities. “The judicial system has once again failed the survivors,” said Professor Anila Duro of John Jay College at the rally. Her impassioned remarks were interrupted by chants “The Future is Hers” and “Justice delayed is justice denied”.
Going back three years now, these chants have fired up rallies in the city calling attention to the 20,000 estimated rapes of Albanian women and girls by Serbs during the Kosova war. In 2018 at a US Congressional Hearing in Washington DC, Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman gave testimony as a survivor of sexual violence of the Kosova war in front of the House Foreign Relations Committee. Two decades after the war, there still have been no rape prosecutions.
While most of the participants were residents in and around New York area, at least members of one Albanian family at the protest were visitors from Kosova. On a short stay from Prishtina, Mitare Hamiti, her husband and son, decided to protest by holding posters in solidarity with the sisters back home.
The theme of solidarity and the expressed support by the leaders was amplified by Mark Gjonaj, former City Councilman and tireless supporter of the Future is Hers ongoing campaign. “Your presence here sends a message. We stand in solidarity with the thousands that came out in Kosova, Macedonia, Albania until justice is brought to the survivors, until we put an end to all forms of sexual violence,” said Gjonaj. Acts of sexual violence have consistently been condemned by politicians, party officials and members of governments. Echoing that same unity around the issue of protecting women as in Tirana, Prishtina, Skopje, the New York rally was about ending the cycle of violence.
The gathering on Saturday featured a number of eloquent and distinguished speakers that drove home many relevant and important issues of gender and justice inequality versus our humanity. As Djellza Pulatani put it to the gatherers: “I want you all to understand that this is not about being someone’s sister, or mother or daughter. This is about being someone.” The violation of the women’s rights is a human rights subject with profound impact for the society and its future.
While both organizers agree that there is a long way to go in addressing the compound issue of sexual violence, Saturday’s rally made its statement by raising society’s protection for women and girls rights to the level of a moral imperative. To them, where you stand on that issue says a lot about your moral values and who you are.