Women and Property: A Continuous Path Towards Change
By Venla Aalto
For many women in Kosovo, the right to own and inherit property still remains a distant goal. Lack of awareness, cultural norms, gender stereotypes and economic barriers have long prevented women from fully accessing their legal rights.
To address the property and inheritance rights issues, the OSCE Mission continuously advocated for improved policies and procedures that provide women with full and unimpeded access to property rights. It works with relevant institutions including Ministry of Justice, judges, prosecutors, notaries, municipal officials, Cadastral Agency, as well as civil society and youth, to promote and protect women’s property and inheritance rights.
As part of these efforts, in the first half of 2025 the OSCE Mission organized a series of workshops for municipal officials, business owners, civil society organizations and community leaders from diverse communities across Kosovo. The core focus was to present the legal framework surrounding property ownership and inheritance, property registration, the institutional mechanisms designed to protect women’s rights and to address the cultural norms and stereotypes.
Participants Dashurije Ahmeti, Head of Youth Sector in Ferizaj/Uroševac municipality, and Minavere Fejzullahu, Coordinator and Manager of the Caritas Kosova Center, said they joined the workshop to gain knowledge, not only to fight for their own rights, but also for the rights of all women, and to support their communities. They both emphasized the importance of awareness and education in challenging the cultural barriers that have kept women from securing their rights.
Empowerment begins with knowledge
The workshops offer a space to discuss, learn, share experiences and be empowered, fostering a network of support that is helping drive the conversation forward.
Building on these discussions, Dashurije Ahmeti identified a crucial issue through her professional experience and active involvement with informal groups of women and activists, a concern that also echoed at the workshops, the lack of information regarding importance of notary processes and signed documents.
“We still live in a traditional society where men are often seen as the decision-makers in all matters, including inheritance. We have middle-aged women who have signed documents without fully understanding what they were signing. They unknowingly gave up their property rights,” she expressed her concern.
“So, it was ideal to have a notary at the OSCE workshop, sharing professional information on the notary process and its importance, because women are sometimes misled,” she said.
Alongside Ahmeti, workshop participant Minavere Fejzullahu joined the OSCE workshop to become more informed, gain more understanding of the procedures, and pass the information on, women to women, while also encouraging and empowering young people to pursue education. In her role at Caritas Kosova, Fejzullahu works directly with non-majority communities, and witnesses small but meaningful steps toward positive change every day.
“My aim is to empower women at the margins of the society as much as I can. Following fruitful information from the OSCE workshop, I followed up with a meeting with mothers and young women from Dubravë/Dubrava village, mainly inhabited by Kosovo Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, to pass on the insights. If five participants out of 25 took something away from what we shared, that was meaningful to me,” Fejzullahu stated.
Shift in social norms empowers women’s property rights
Traditionally, property ownership has been dominated by men, with women often facing discrimination both in the family and the wider community when it comes to claiming their rights. The issue of women’s rights to own or inherit property is rooted not only in a lack of awareness, but more profoundly in deeply entrenched social norms.
This influence of patriarchal thinking was echoed by Ahmeti, who emphasized how such norms continue to shape perceptions around women’s ownership and inheritance rights.
“In my work, I organized activities focused on empowering women and girls, and during field interviews, we observed that even in families with strong economic standing, there was a tendency to think that if they’re giving property to the daughter, they are giving it to the son-in-law. But, over time and with awareness raising, these opinions changed and they realized that they would, in fact, be giving the property to their daughters,” Ahmeti stated.
“The applicable laws in Kosovo guarantee property rights to every member of the family, regardless of gender. The focus now should be on removing the fear women carry, that when they ask for their inheritance rights, the doors of their family home will be closed to them,” she said.
“When there is discussion, ideas begin to form, marking the start of awareness among both women and men. In this process, it is important to provide accurate information to men and boys as well, not just women,” Ahmeti emphasized.
Advancing women’s property rights is a shared commitment
Arijeta Rrotlla, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Property Officer, noted that many women and girls still voluntarily give up their rights to inheritance due societal pressure.
“Patriarchal norms and persistent mentalities continue to influence these decisions, but there is progress. Maybe not at the level we would like to see yet, but where there is room to work, there is definitely hope,” Rrotlla said.
Despite the challenges, there has been a noticeable and encouraging shift in recent years. The number of women registered as property owners in the Cadastral Agency of Kosovo has increased, showing that change is possible.
According to Rrotlla, a 2024 study by the Agency for Gender Equality and a report published by UN Women show that about 19.8% of property in cadastral registry is registered under women’s names.
“The latest statistics from 2025 show an increase to 21.5 %, so there is progress. Even though some of these properties registered in women’s names or under co-ownership with their husbands are, in fact, properties they bought themselves, not inherited, it’s still progress,” she noted.
As the progress continues, each conversation, workshop, and shared experience brings the issue of women’s property and inheritance rights further into the open. This is what the OSCE workshops aim for – to equip women to be powerful voices for change within their communities, educating others about their rights and helping to foster a more equitable society for future generations.
“At the OSCE workshop, women from diverse backgrounds showed extraordinary determination not only to claim their rights, but also to assert that their right to property is guaranteed. I have witnessed them starting to lobby and discuss these rights at the family level, which I personally find very important,” Ahmeti emphasized.
Fejzullahu captured the spirit of gradual change. “If we manage to make just two women aware enough to claim their rights, and reach a larger group with the information that they have the right to inherit property from their fathers and have their share on the property they create with their husbands, that represents a positive impact,” she said.
In conclusion, Ahmeti highlights the importance of collective commitment, effort and support.
“This is a continuous fight, and we cannot make this journey of change alone. We need partners – like the OSCE – and professionals to participate and provide continuous support to women, especially those who lack the financial means to navigate judicial processes,” she said.
Rrotlla from the OSCE Mission agrees. “It takes joint efforts, and we will continue to advocate and work together to keep advancing women’s property and inheritance rights,” she concluded.