There is no such thing as transgender ideology

Transgender people in Macedonia are effectively second-class citizens. The most important thing to remember is that transphobic narratives in North Macedonia are completely wrong. Inaccurate and transphobic narratives about trans people are spreading globally and locally in our country (these are people with different gender identity than the gender assigned to them at birth). The …

Hate speech in Montenegro: Looking away from the past

Since 2020 there have been nine indictments for the crime of inciting racial, national and religious hatred confirmed in Montenegro. In April this year, two verdicts for inciting hatred and violence due to religious and national affiliation were passed, with seven months and one year prison sentences respectively. Is that enough to stop “troubling the …

ETHICS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST

Precisely at one of the ethics roundtables, I asked Magistracy professor Arta Mandro where the media went wrong when reporting on the murder of little Mateo. Immediately placing her hand on her heart, without resorting to words, the professor let me know how, as a citizen who read online or followed the broadcasts, indeed, she …

STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN MONTENEGRO

“At first I waited in the hallway for a long time for someone to see me. At home I had a baby less than a month old. And another six-year-old child. The inspector did not receive me on the same day, but the next day”. “I relayed the event, and the inspector recorded the events …

HATE SPEECH BASED ON ETHNICITY AND SEXISM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: November onthly monitoring highlight

Throughout the month of November, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. During this month there has been a rise in hate speech including sensationalism, ethnic discrimination and sexism across the Western Balkans. Insensitive reporting in Albania Recently a headline emerged in Shiqiptarja.com reading “Horror in Fier/A 38-year-old kidnaps …

MEDIA (NOT) AS A MIRRORING, MEDIA (NOT) AS A CREATION!

… “31-year-old Elton Metaj shot his ex-wife Sabrina Benga to death. Police announced that they have arrested the perpetrator this morning. Sabrina left behind a 2-year-old baby ”… … “Albania: over 100 women and girls killed in 18 years…” … “only in the first six months of 2021, there were 1549 requests for protection orders, …

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN SERBIA: Media are missing the chance to educate the public

For a long time now, every November 25th on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, citizens in Serbia have been hearing about devastating numbers that tell us just how bad the situation is when it comes to gender-based violence. It seems that the number of citizens who condemn this situation publicly, …

TROLL OF THE MONTH: Member of the Parliament of Montenegro, Slaven Radunović

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region. Our November Troll of the Month is …

Public Room: How the Macedonian Media Missed the Opportunity to Shed Light on Gender-based Violence

As the “Public Room” case remained unsolved for two years after its discovery, media coverage led the public in N. Macedonia to mistrust the country’s authorities. Gender-based violence is one of the several forms of violence where victims are often blamed. In other words, girls and women who are  often the victims of gender-based violence …