Safety-and-wellbeing-of-women-in-N.Macedonia_OSCE-research

The OSCE has strong commitments on combating violence against women and girls (VAWG). On 6th of March 2019, the main results report of the OSCE-led Survey on the Well-being and Safety of Women was launched. This is the first comparable representative study conducted in South-East Europe and Eastern Europe. The OSCE Gender Section is organizing a high-level conference on 6-7 May 2019 to disseminate the main results of the survey and discuss next steps with key stakeholders.

The OSCE-led survey therefore provides a wealth of information, including data on social norms and attitudes, prevalence rates of violence against women, its consequences as well as reporting and help-seeking by survivors. The research shows that gaps in the ability of local institutions’ to understand and address women’s and girls’ experience of personal insecurity and violence continue to exist. The survey data suggests that beliefs in female subservience, spousal obedience and silence surrounding VAWG continue to persist in the region and that those women who hold such beliefs are more likely to say they have experienced violence.

This report presents the findings from the OSCE’s qualitative and quantitative study in North Macedonia. The study was implemented in spring/summer 2018 and involved:

• 15 key expert interviews, which provided an overview of issues related
to VAW and of conflict-related acts of violence;
• A survey on experiences of violence among a representative sample
of 1,910 women aged 18–74, including 496 women who completed
the survey in Albanian; the survey used a multistage, stratified, random
probability sample design;
• Eight focus groups with women from various demographic backgrounds (two
with Albanian and two with Roma women) on their attitudes towards the
subject;
• Four in-depth interviews with women who had experienced violence in order
to understand, in more detail, the impact the violence had on
them (including one Albanian and one Roma woman).