Women in Kosovo: work, culture, society

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Women in Kosovo work, culture, society

• The research report
• The research was conducted by D. Cieslikowska as
  a part of the project
• The development of womens economic activity in
  Kosovo
• by Partners Poland Foundation, and was finansed
  by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
  Republic of Poland in 2007.

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Introduction to the research

• The research was carried out between July and
  October 2007
• A combination of interviews and tests was used
• The research was done in Albanian, with the
  translation into English

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INTERVIEWS

• Gjakova and Krusha (Madhe Vogel)
• Seven women (widows) and six men aged between 18
  and 49of different kinds of work (business,
  worked or managed farms, worked for grassroots
  organizations or international NGOs) and some
  were unemployed.

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QUESTIONNAIRES

• Gjakova, Peja, Rahovec, Prizren, Deqan, Giljan
  and Klina
• 110 women, aged between 17 and 69 years, twenty
  six (23.6) were not working while the other 84
  (76.4) were.

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Research questions

• 1. What are the characteristics of the female
  gender role in Kosovo?
• What are the differences between
  traditional and non-traditional gender role
  patterns? Which life domains have changed and how
  are they different? How do men and women perceive
  this issue?
• 2. What kind of cultural, social and
  individual factors influence a womans decision
  to enter the workforce or stay at home?
• Which of these are conducive to start
  working and which are handicaps on the labour
  market?
• 3. How are women perceived within the context of
  employment?
• What are mens and womens expectations
  towards women in the domestic, professional and
  public spheres?
• Is there conflict or harmony between the
  needs of individuals and social expectations?

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Interviews Results

• Many women in Kosovo still fulfil the traditional
  pattern of gender relations. The rule that a
  woman belongs to her family is well known.
  Girls are subordinated to their family of origin
  before marriage. Getting married in most cases
  necessitates moving in with the husbands family
  and this means becoming dependent on the husband
  and his relatives.
• The status of being married is much higher than
  that of any other role open to women.
• The role of mother is the first one before other
  social roles

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• The Case of Traditional Widow
• Life is very different when you have a husband.
  Youre free, you can do more (). Being without
  a husband is like being dead. It would have been
  better if we had died and our husbands were still
  alive.
• The Case of the Businesswoman
• a professionally, socially and individually
  satisfied person. She clearly owed her success
  to her strength of character, her efficiency and
  effectiveness and many other talents besides.
  However, as she herself often pointed out, the
  general opinion in the community was that it was
  her father-in-law who had made her carrier
  possible.

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Three most frequentlyencountered types of woman
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• Work has become an important issue for Kosovar
  women. They are now not only concerned with
  family matters but want to work outside the home
  as well.
• The motivation is mainly financial but
  psychological gratifications such as personal
  satisfaction and independence come into play as
  well. Women from villages, where working is more
  frowned upon than it is in the cities, derive
  particular satisfaction from work. Work seems to
  be more valuable as a result of being scarcer
  despite causing more conflict with home and
  family.

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Individual, social and cultural factors
affecting a womans decision to work or stay at
home

• The economic situation in Kosovo need for
  womens work or fear of the positions?
• Social Attutiude - support or pressure?
• The international forces - foreign concepts or
  local support?
• Grassroots organizations with female leaders -
  agents of the changes?
• Personal abilities, achivments, potentials
  known or unknown concepts?
• Womens netowrking common interest and
  solidarity or challenge and competition?
• Institutional background

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Background Facts

• EDUCATION Women receive two years less schooling
  than men on average, enroll in primary and
  secondary schools less frequently, and have lower
  literacy rates (The Ombudsperson in Kosovo,
  2007)
• LIFE CONDITIONS households headed by women are
  twice as poor as those headed by men (The World
  Banks Poverty Assessment report on Kosovo)
• WORK CONDITIONS
• Unemployment rate among women is 70 compared
  with 51 for men,
• Most Kosovar women hold low-ranking and even
  lower-paid positions salaries paid to women
  are, on average, four times lower than those paid
  to men,
• Less then 6 of businesses in Kosovo are run by
  women,
• Only 13 of women is able live from the money
  earn by herself, without any spousal support (The
  Office for Gender Affairs at the Office of the
  Kosovo Prime Minister ).

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• Many thanks
• For Florinda Rudi
• for the wonderful cooperation and translation
  during the whole research project
• For Ardita Rizvanolli
• for all the help given during the project

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What needs have to be answered?

• The practical need
• to help mobilize women throughout Kosovo,
  with a specific focus on returnee, displaced, and
  war-affected women, to assist them and their
  families in rebuilding their lives and
  livelihood,
• The strategic need
• to empower women to become agents of change
  and solidarity through raising awareness,
  fostering the development of womens network, and
  enhancing the principles of gender equity at all
  levels of government and civil society (The
  Kosovo Womens Initiative)