In this global feminist continuum, the voices of Kosovo's women, as collected by Di Lellio and Kraja, mark a crucial juncture: the stories they recorded were told timely. This time the world is ready to listen. By enabling the âtruthâ of victims and survivors to resonate through legal discourse, in a world still shaped by the visible and invisible rules of patriarchy, this book achieves something monumental.

Nevenka Tromp, University of Amsterdam

From February 1998 until June 1999, a war between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army ravaged Kosovo. The counterinsurgency quickly turned into a state-led campaign of ethnic cleansing that resulted in the killing, deportation, and rape of thousands of Albanian civilians. While it is estimated that over 20,000 women were victims of sexual violence during the war, for nearly two decades after its end, few survivors have come forward to publicly discuss what they endured. In The Strongest Link, Anna Di Lellio and Garentina Kraja aim to break that silence by presenting an oral history of women who survived weaponized rape during the Kosovo War. In their own voices, twenty women describe the war's terror, as well as the nightmares that still haunt them today. Through these narratives, readers are given a glimpse into what it's like to be a woman whose life has been altered and undone by a violent regime, war, and patriarchal rules. We see how these women suffered, but also how they exhibited immense bravery and an unflagging dedication to their families and communities. Di Lellio and Kraja contextualize these narratives within a history of state repression, ethnic cleansing, and lack of justice. By weaving these women's stories together and placing them within a chronological storyline, these stories can be read as one might listen to a choir: Each woman's unique voice and story can be heard, but their power lies in a shared song, a story of courage and strength.
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Introduction: Narrating Their Lives 1: A War Against Women 2: Families 3: A New Home 4: Insecurity 5: War 6: They Would Not Touch Women and Children 7: Silences 8: Justice 9: What Remains 10: The Strength Inside
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"In this global feminist continuum, the voices of Kosovo's women, as collected by Di Lellio and Kraja, mark a crucial juncture: the stories they recorded were told timely. This time the world is ready to listen. By enabling the âtruthâ of victims and survivors to resonate through legal discourse, in a world still shaped by the visible and invisible rules of patriarchy, this book achieves something monumental." -- Nevenka Tromp, University of Amsterdam
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Anna Di Lellio is Adjunct Professor at the Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) at New York University. An expert on Kosovo, she co-founded the Kosovo Oral History Initiative. She has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, The New School, and the American University in Kosovo. Garentina Kraja is a researcher, journalist, and former policy adviser. Her career comprises over two decades of reporting, researching, and advising policy in Kosovo and other countries in the Western Balkans, ranging from the coverage of the 1998-99 war in her native Kosovo to its transition to an independent state.
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Selling point: Presents previously unpublished interviews and testimony from twenty survivors of wartime rape Selling point: Uses an oral historical approach to offer readers a nuanced perspective of the lives of survivors, instead of merely describing their victimization Selling point: Contextualizes survivors' stories within broader historical events so that readers might understand how sexual violence was weaponized in this conflict
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Product details

ISBN
9780197699294
Published
2025
Publisher
Oxford University Press Inc
Weight
558 gr
Height
236 mm
Width
169 mm
Thickness
24 mm
Age
P, 06
Language
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Number of pages
280

Biographical note

Anna Di Lellio is Adjunct Professor at the Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) at New York University. An expert on Kosovo, she co-founded the Kosovo Oral History Initiative. She has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, The New School, and the American University in Kosovo. Garentina Kraja is a researcher, journalist, and former policy adviser. Her career comprises over two decades of reporting, researching, and advising policy in Kosovo and other countries in the Western Balkans, ranging from the coverage of the 1998-99 war in her native Kosovo to its transition to an independent state.