Get To Know Matilda and Kristin And Their Creative Rainbow Family

Two women, two white dresses and a priest. Matilda and Kristin’s church wedding became a dream coming true. A dream that will hopefully become possible in Kosovo. (Albanian text) 1. You and your wife live in a beautiful house on the countryside in Sweden together with your two kids. If you would introduce your family …

“Shkurte Fejza, we need you to sing about the oppression of women!”

The new song “Bride, Teacher” has caused heated debate recently on social media. Women have reported the song to YouTube due to its oppressive lyrics towards women. The singer Gresa Behluli has defended the lyrics as being sarcastic, something activist Luljeta Aliu is not buying. Article in Albanian Two weeks ago, the Albanian song “Bride, …

French Woman Raped in Kosovo Crying Out For Help

A French woman in Pristina is urgently trying to seek help and reach international media with her story. She fears for her life after her estranged husband broke in to her home, stabbed her friend and raped her. When the woman has reported the crimes to the police, they refused to help her. “We don’t …

My Darkest Nightmare Started During The Wedding Night

Swedish: CLICK HERE Albanian: CLICK HERE Serbian: CLICK HERE This is a text written by Rina Tahiraj and it is an honor for me to publish it - Mirja Lakso This text I would like to dedicate to all women that are or have been victims in a relationship or marriage - Rina Tahiraj When …

Wedding Night Blood And A Woman’s Honor

Dear reader, lately I have started to collect stories written by women from Kosovo in order to share them with you. The previous story about "Analsex And Stitching To Stay Virgin In Kosovo" was one of them. This week I would like to share another story with you. However, since the previous story resulted not …

Anal Sex And “Stitching” To Stay Virgin In Kosovo

This is a story told by an 18-year old Albanian woman describing what it means being a virgin in Kosovo, and what is done to young Albanian women so that they stay virgins – anal sex and "stitching". (This is the woman's story told with her own words. I have only created paragraphs and headlines …

How Will People In Kosovo Learn About Birth Control?

One of the biggest shocks with moving to Kosovo was definitely to find out how little people know about birth control. I’ve met many young men and women in Pristina that have never heard about hormonal birth controls, such as the Intrauterine Device (IUD) or implant. I have even met people in Pristina that don’t …

A Bipolar Adventure In North Korea

It was a sunny December day in one of the most closed countries in the world, North Korea. I was walking down the street of a suburb of Pyongyang together with “Onni”. Onni means big sister in Korean and it’s a term of respect. It’s what I used to call her, even if I knew …

Moa In Sweden Had To Write Her Own Suicide Letter

This is an interview with a survivor of domestic violence in Sweden. It is based on a documentary produced by Swedish National Television where actors read transcripts of prosecutions that have all resulted in prison sentences for the perpetrators.  · According to BRÅ 25% of women in Sweden will experience domestic violence in their lifetime  …

Apparently This Woman Is My Lookalike

Honestly, since I’ve come to Sweden one week ago not a single man has catcalled me on the street, looked at me in a disturbing way, harassed me or even flirted with me. I told my friend here it feels so strange since men I don’t know in Kosovo catcall, slow down their cars, honk …

Swedish Journalist Being Threatened, Silenced and Blackmailed in Kosovo

I want to explain what has happened to me in Kosovo this week. I'm heartbroken and I haven't been able to sleep or eat, but I want you to know the truth. It started with me working on an article for a Swedish magazine about domestic violence in Kosovo and ended with me being threatened, …

Does My Albanian Boyfriend Wash His Own Plates?

Yesterday I had the most terrifying conversation with my friends. We were sitting at this lovely taverna in the city drinking wine and they told me the most horrific stories that made the blood in my veins freeze. First: About the plates. My friend's boyfriend didn't wash his own plates after dinner in their parent's …

Even If The President Was His Lover, It Would Be Ok

So I like a new guy now. I really that other guy before but he hurt me a lot and didn't understand my feelings so it didn't work. But then, magically, this new guy showed up. And he told me we were gonna go out in his car just to drive and talk. Because I …

She Had Her Hands All Over Him And It Was COMPLETELY Normal

So you know I like this guy who likes fli and I've been seeing him for a few weeks. It has been fun, but it has also been hard. He doesn't speak good English, we are extremely different and communication is NOT his strongest side. Then he is also fasting which completely sucks from my …

Sex In Kosovo Is Like The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ

Me and my friends call it "the pillow". It's when a guy gets on top of you, puts his dick inside you, and starts fucking you while he buries his head in the pillow - NOT LOOKING AT YOU.  This happened to me with an Albanian man a while ago and when I tried to …

I Like Oysters And He Likes Fli

It started with him helping me with work. Him taking me places so I could interview people and do research about the coronavirus in Kosovo. But then I was like – wow, this guy is actually really nice. He is funny, he is handsome and he seems to be very unmarried which is like winning …

Do The Men In Kosovo Cheat Less During Ramadan?

Friday was the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, viewed by ca 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide as the month of fasting.  The purpose of the fast is to purification spiritually, reflection and self-improvement. It’s also meant to make you experience hunger to develop more empathy and willingness to …

Kosovo Only Allows Each Person 90 Min Outside Per Day – This Is How It Works

Wednesday, April 15 From today the government of Kosovo has put new measurements in place in order to decrease the spread of the coronavirus in the country. Each person only gets to spend 90 min outside and this time is not optional, but decided by ones ID-number or passport number for non-citizens. Breaking this new …

Men In Kosovo Speak Out About Gender Equality

Tuesday last week some photos of a sexist music video was shared on Facebook. I re-shared the photos to start a discussion about sexism in music videos in Kosovo. Many comments were posted, but most of them were defending the sexism, victim blaming women and showing a great lack of knowledge about the subject - …

I Went To Ask Donald Trump For One Million Dollars

Trump Tower, New York, Christmas Eve 2014 Hi! Is Donald Trump home tonight? No. It's Christmas Eve. He's in his other place. Can you please give him this letter? You see I've come all the way from Sweden to offer him a role in reality musical that will have its Broadway premiere in 200 years. …

All I want is 3 Bottles of Malbec and Pierce Brosnan Naked

As some of you have noticed Tinder has created a new function which makes it possible to swipe worldwide without being a gold member paying 10€ per month.   But why do people do this? I mean even during corona, when we are so bored we’re even getting TikTok, what’s the point really of texting with …

Finnish citizens fleeing the coronavirus in Kosovo by walking across the border

A group of Finnish citizens walked across the border between Kosovo and North Macedonia Saturday morning in order to flee the coronavirus outbreak in the Balkans. - The minivan couldn’t cross the border. The only way to leave was to walk, says Riia Raadla. Riia Raadla, Finnish teacher working in Pristina, her 16-year old son, …

The Most Famous Party in Kosovo – My Feminist Birthday Party

He came and picked me up in a black BMW with a driver. Who in Kosovo has a driver?! Not even in Sweden men picks me up with a driver. I looked over my shoulder to see if any haters could spot me getting into the car cause the last thing I need now is …

I Was Drinking With A Famous Rapist In Sweden

This is how it started. I was at the hair salon in my hometown Piteå and met an old classmate. We started speaking about the politician in Luleå who was sexually harassing a common friend to us. Then she told me the most horrific story about a man in our city who has been beating …

The Behgjet Pacolli Challenge and My Albanian Lover

At the event I organized Tuesday, in front of hundreds of people, government employed, ambassadors and two famous tv channels, I said “Before we move on from the topic of kinder gardens, I would just like to challenge someone…” “…I’ve heard that there is only one man in the world who has done construction work …

Moja najmračnija noćna mora započela je tokom bračne noći

Ovo je tekst koji je napisala Rina Tahiraj i čast mi je da ga objavim - Mirja Lakso Ovaj tekst bih želela da posvetim svim ženama koje su bile ili su žrtve veze ili braka - Rina Tahiraj Kada sam bila u situaciji u kojoj su možda mnoge od vas trenutno, odlučila sam da sve …

Min Värsta Mardröm Började Under Bröllopsnatten

Denna text är skriven av Rina Tahiraj och det är en ära för mig att få publicera den. - Mirja Lakso Denna text vill jag tillägna alla kvinnor som är eller varit offer i ett förhållande eller giftermål. - Rina Tahiraj När jag själv befann mig i en situation som kanske många av er befinner …