Monthly Highlights May: Sexism and racism alongside gendered, ethnic and religious hate speech

During the month of May, the RDN monitoring team detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse fuelled by sexism, racism, and Islamophobia alongside ethnic and gendered hate speech.

Sexism in Kosovo and Albania

Local elections are supposed to be held in Kosovo in September, but political parties have already begun preparations to gain as many votes as possible and take the lead. The biggest battle will take place for the municipality of Pristina, which has the country’s largest local budget.

At present, the municipality is locked in a dispute with the public waste management company “Pastrimi,” which has decided to go on strike. The dispute centres on Pastrimi claims that the municipality of Pristina owes it several million euros, something the mayor disputes, and the hiring of two private companies for garbage collection. The mayor asserts that the municipality does not owe Pastrimi any money, and it is dissatisfied with the company’s performance and management.

Journalist Edona Gashi from the Piranjat TV programme attempted to conduct an interview with the mayor of Pristina, Përparim Rama, regarding the issue of garbage collection. In response to her question about why he had signed a contract with two private companies and what would happen to the 800 Pastrimi workers, Rama addressed her, among other things, with the words “zemër” (darling/heart) and “loçkë” (sweetie), to which the journalist reacted, saying that he had no right to use such terms. She later accused him of promoting a sexist narrative.

Gashi works for an investigative journalism outlet in Albania, and she was determined to get answers from the mayor. This sexist narrative was condemned by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, which in a statement emphasised that with such language, the mayor of Pristina attempted to minimise the issue and undermine the journalist’s professional credibility, calling on him to issue a public apology.

“This behaviour clearly reflects the patriarchal and unsafe environment in which women journalists in Kosovo are forced to work every day,” the Association of Journalists of Kosovo stated in its communication. It is unacceptable for someone in a position of power, such as the mayor of Pristina, to use his platform to undermine a fellow female citizen and spread sexist narratives. Such behaviour must be called out and held to account.

In the aftermath of the May 2025 parliamentary elections in Albania, several candidates both men and women requested access to CCTV footage from vote-counting centres to verify the integrity of preferential vote results. Among them was Blerina Gjylameti, a Socialist Party candidate who narrowly lost her mandate to fellow party member Olta Xhaçka. While male candidates such as Xhemal Qefalia, Frrok Gjini, Aulon Kalaja, and others submitted similar requests, media coverage disproportionately focused on Gjylameti’s appeal, framing it primarily as a personal reaction to an intra-party rivalry between two women.

In contrast, the requests made by male candidates were either reported in a neutral tone or received minimal media attention. The heightened scrutiny of Gjylameti, often accompanied by suggestive language, emotional framing, or insinuations of party disloyalty, reveals a gendered double standard in the media’s treatment of electoral challenges.

Gjylameti’s public statement following the election emphasised gratitude and a continued commitment to political service. However, her initial participation in a collective request for vote verification was repeatedly singled out in media coverage, even though she—like several male candidates—later withdrew the request, reportedly due to pressure from party leadership. While some articles briefly mentioned other candidates who made similar requests, the media disproportionately used Gjylameti’s name and image as the visual anchor of the story, making her the symbolic face of the recount narrative.

Moreover, some media outlets amplified Prime Minister Rama’s message, which implicitly discouraged any challenge to the results, framing such actions as harmful to party unity. In this context, Gjylameti’s expression of emotion and symbolic language was framed in stark contrast to the neutral or procedural reporting used for male candidates, exposing a potential gender bias in how women’s political actions are portrayed— often more personalised, emotionally charged, and subject to greater scrutiny. In this case, there is clear evidence of sexism and gender bias in the reporting of the same issue—where one subject is a man and the other a woman. All individuals should be reported on with equal fairness and consistency, regardless of gender. By framing differently based on gender, this serves to legitimise criticism towards female political candidates whilst giving a free pass to their male counterparts.

Racism in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Respekt Football Club informed the public that hate speech, racist insults, discrimination, violations of fundamental human rights, and violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child occurred during a match on Sunday May 11. The Club shared the information on its Facebook page.

It was stated that during the match, the coach/representative of the El Tarik team, Sanin Glavašević, publicly and loudly insulted a player of the Respekt Football Club on several occasions, calling him a “black man”. The Club condemned the statement and emphasised that such behaviour is unacceptable in sports, especially when it comes from a coach who should be a role model for young people.

It was also said that Glavašević made severe verbal attacks on children with disabilities, parents and fans of the club, including threats such as “I will kill you all”.

The statement of the Respekt Football Club also stated that the club has been operating without membership fees for a decade and is dedicated to the inclusion and empowerment of children from marginalised groups, children with developmental disabilities, and children without support.

In response to this incident, several demands were made by the Club, including the urgent initiation of disciplinary proceedings against coach Sanin Glavašević, as well as public condemnation and sanctioning of racist and discriminatory behaviour.

The media in BiH reported the case, citing the statement from the Football Club’s Facebook page. It is not known whether disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against Glavašević or whether there has been any reaction to the case at all, as the media has not reported further. Discrimination and racism have no place in any part of society — including on the football pitch. A coach, who serves as both a role model and mentor to young people, should lead by example, not misuse their position to spread hatred and racism.

Harmful speech enhancing ethnic tensions in Montenegro

The Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro Joakinije – a respected prominent figure head in the Orthodox Church – recently called Chetnik commander Pavle Ðurišić “a great hero of invincible character”.

Pavle Ðurišić and his unit were responsible for the mass killings of Muslim civilians in northern Montenegro, Sandžak, and eastern Bosnia during WWII. He was even awarded Hitler’s Iron Cross for his “military virtues”.

In response to the Metropolitan’s statements, many leading media outlets reported responsibly on the case by publishing reactions from NGO’s, politicians, and editorials condemning the glorification of a known war criminal. However, at the same time, some pro-Serbian outlets in the country painted a different picture. The unregistered portal IN4S published a column titled “We are All Pavle Ðurišić” written by a Serbian Orthodox priest, in which he describes Ðurišić as a “great fighter for our people”.  The column stood to glorify as well as defend the entire Chetnik movement claiming it to be an ally of Western democracies, justifying this by arguing that Serbia officially rehabilitated the movement, whilst criticising Montenegro for not doing the same.

Another media portal, Barski Info published a column titled “When the Truth (About Pavle Ðurišić) Hurts”, glorifying him as a figure of Serbian identity and heritage. The column also targeted ethnic minorities in the country, accusing the Albanian minority of promoting the so-called Greater Albania narrative.

Statements such as those spread by Joakinije and upheld by media outlets, undermine regional reconciliation and truth. Instead, they serve to sow the seeds of division across the region, while simultaneously disrespecting the victims of the atrocities and wars that took place.

Gendered and ethnic hate speech in North Macedonia

In a Facebook post, Danela Arsovska, Mayor of Skopje, publicly addresses Visar Ganiu, the Mayor of the Municipality of Čair and a member of Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), in a highly confrontational and accusatory tone. The post was framed as a personal and political attack, loaded with insults, gendered provocation, and ethnic subtext.

The post directed insults such as “измеќар” (lackey), “лажеш” (you are lying), “лопову криминален” (criminal thief), and threats to “expose” all his alleged illegal dealings. Furthermore, Arsovska challenged Ganiu’s masculinity explicitly “те чекав ако си маж” (I was waiting for you if you are a man), implying cowardice and positioning herself as fearlessly superior.  She then called for public shaming by appealing to thousands of people who allegedly gave money for illegal buildings to “come to Čair and demand their money back,” effectively mobilising public outrage against Ganiu and, implicitly, his supporters.

By mentioning Čair—a predominantly Albanian municipality—and the reference to “Изет” (likely DUI figure Izet Mexhiti), this embeds her message within the broader ethnic-political divide between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.

While the post is ostensibly a political exposé of alleged corruption, its tone, language, and threats of mass mobilisation contribute to a hostile and inflammatory atmosphere, likely to incite hatred, intimidation, and possibly interethnic resentment.  Using social media platforms to spread hate—where such content is widely visible—is an irresponsible abuse of one’s platform and influence. Regardless of political difference, this cannot be a justification or excuse to spread hate in any form.

Sexism and relativisation of gender-based violence in Serbia

As the protests in Serbia continue, and remain the key topic in almost all media outlets, reporting lacked in cases of sexism and relativisation of gender-based violence in local parliaments.

Mayor of Požarevac Saša Pavlović insulted opposition MP Dragana Spasojević in the local Parliament in Požarevac. In response to her speech about air pollution in Kostolac (part of Požarevac municipality) he told her: “take my phone number if you want to have a partner relationship with me”. This was followed by laughter in the room at the session. He later addressed this situation saying this was taken out of context and that he previously told all MPs to feel free to call him as they have his phone number. He did not apologise for what he said.

In Užice, also during a local parliamentary session, one MP pointed to violence against women allegedly committed by an unnamed member of the Assembly. The President of the Assembly Dragoljub Stojadinović replied saying that “you cannot bring up the private life of anyone here”.

Although the domestic violence accusations against the MP were allegation and the due presumption of innocence should also be respected, it is highly problematic to frame domestic violence as a ‘private matter’. Not only is domestic violence not a private matter, but it is also a criminal act with deep roots in patriarchal societies which has traditionally treated it as a ‘private matter’. Likewise, having knowledge of someone’s alleged acts of violence is not a private matter, but a reason to inform the authorities about it without any calculations.

Through this kind of public speech, domestic violence and violence against women is normalised and relativised, and the silence of the institutions is further legitimised. It is dangerous when public officials relativise the importance and character of violence, especially when they do so in institutions that belong to all citizens.

The media have a huge role in this – primarily educational. It is necessary to inform and educate the public about gender-based violence, its causes, consequences and frequency.