Kosovo’s prime minister hailed the launch of a new scheme to track domestic violence perpetrators with electronic bracelets, as authorities strive to deal with rising number of reports of violence in the home.

In a fresh move to keep abusers away from their victims, Kosovo Police have launched a new system of tagging them with electronic bracelets, as authorities and civil society conclude activities to coincide with an international campaign entitled ’16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2024′.

The electronic bracelets are being introduced more than nine years after Kosovo’s parliament approved a legislation to supervise people whose movements have been restricted by a court decision.

Under the new tracking system, if a suspect approaches their victim within a designated area, police at local and central level will be electronically alerted to intervene.

A total of 1,455 domestic violence cases were recorded in the first six months of 2024 in Kosovo, with police issuing 59 temporary protection orders.

In 2023, police recorded 2,638 cases of reported domestic violence, with most victims being women; 286 women and 335 children were sheltered in safe houses; in 129 cases, police issued temporary protection orders for victims.

“It has been a long-standing request that our police, in order to have more efficient prevention, better investigations and more comprehensive treatment, move into the stage of electronic bracelet monitoring,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti said at the launch ceremony for the new tracking system.

“Since there are those who continue to disrespect protection orders, we have undertaken a giant step towards supervising all those who have filled the news in recent years with domestic violence cases and have shocked the whole of society and have taken lives, or made them miserable,” he added.

Gazmend Hoxha, director of Kosovo Police, said funds have been allocated to support the project. “We needed a functioning system for monitoring domestic violence cases,” Hoxha said.

In its assessment on Kosovo’s progress this year, the European Commission said that more needed to be done to tackle domestic violence.

“The legal, policy and institutional framework is in line with European standards, but its implementation remains uneven. Kosovo is yet to adopt implementing legislation envisaged by the law on domestic violence, violence against women and gender-based violence,” the report said.