As part of the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence" at the "Armata" cinema, with the support of UNMIK, the short film "Romni" and the documentary "Like a Real Woman" were shown tonight, through which, the aim is to raise awareness to prevent early marriages in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

The Deputy Sepcial Representative of the Secretary-General in Kosovo, Barrie Freeman, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 10% increase in early marriages worldwide. She said that despite the commitment in Kosovo, the situation is worrying and this has made it even more difficult due to the pandemic and socio-economic conditions. Freeman added that through the film "Romni" and the documentary that were released today, they aim to prevent early marriages in communities. "12 million girls under age 18 are married each year, and girls who marry before the age of 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and not surprisingly are less likely to remain in school. Girls who marry before the age of 18 have worse outcomes than their unmarried peers. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, according to 2021 sustainable development goals report, Covid-19 may translate into a 10% increase in child marriages around the world. In Kosovo, commendable work has been done to reduce earlier high rates of child marriage across all communities. The situation remains a concern, and even more so because of the pandemic and its socio-economic consequences", she said. The community activist Sadete Gashijan said that through dialogue with community families they have managed to reduce the numbers of early marriages among Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians. She said it was very difficult to persuade parents not to marry their daughters at an early age, but their goals have already been achieved. "The goal was to stop early marriages at the age of 14-15 in Mitrovica, because there were young girls who got married, but we went to trainings, we talked to parents, it was a little difficult to tell them not to marry their daughters, they said it's not your daughter... All this goal, which is the best, has been a problem in our communities in Mitrovica, there has been no way to stop them, and now, the people have become aware to stop early marriages", she said. The director of the Network of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Women's Organizations in Kosovo, Shpresa Agushi, said that through this network they are working for women from the communities to talk about the injustices they face. Agushi said that the issue of early marriages is a present phenomenon in all municipalities where RAE communities live. She stressed that family members should not be called upon tradition, to marry girls at an early age, because by respecting tradition, the laws of Kosovo are not respected. "We have been speaking on their behalf for years, we will continue to speak on their behalf, but we will be stronger if we all speak together, we and the women and girls of the RAE community, because they must have the strength to speak for themselves and not for someone else to speak on their behalf, because they are the ones who face women's rights issues and they should be part of the change... I'm against the word tradition to get married early, it is the non-implementation of the existing laws of Kosovo, and at the moment we do not have implementation, people live as they wish, please forget the word tradition, because then it will be a tradition for many other communities", she said. While, Driton Berisha from the ‘Fund for Roma Education’ said that only through education we can move forward. But he stressed that poverty is also affecting early marriages. "When it comes to early marriages, I believe that we can connect it to so many different factors, and all of them lead to poverty... We want Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians to be educated, to see the space, to be able to achieve their goal. I want to be able to tell my daughter, as I am doing, because I have to be optimistic in my community, that the education she pursues, she can never give up on her dream, but we have to work a lot more in order for us to see that this is possible. Continue your education and then you will become independent", said Berisha.