TW: R*PE
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Blodina Mala and I am 17 years old, I come from Peja, Kosovo, I am a human rights
activist and a feminist, I do a lot of volunteering work, and people often refer to me as Mother
Teresa. I come from a family of lawyers, and I do study law myself. I am a member of 3 different
NGO, I am a member of the group called ROR (Respect Our Rights), where we fight for child
rights, the second NGO, is The Youth Assembly of Kosovo, where we work on the things that will
benefit the youth, and third PEN, Peer Educators Network, where we work about the ambient.
When did u start your account?
Well I started this account on October 22, 2019. But because of the weather and then the
pandemic, we started working on the project now, on June 6th 2020
Where were you inspired to start an account?
Well I was in a different city of Kosovo one night, and I was out with a friend of mine, and we
were getting sexually harassed A LOT. So while staying in a coffee shop she told me about @catcallsofnyc, and I thought to myself, I have to do this, so this is where I got the inspiration to open an account.
Why do you think “chalking back” is a good method to raise awareness?
Well for the simple reason, because guys don’t seem to like it when they actually SEE their
words, or the sexual harassment girls have to deal with everyday. So I believe that the more
they actually see it, the more it will effect on them to stop it.
Why do you think ending street harassment is important?
Because, when I go outside I want to feel safe. No rapist ever said to their victim “I’m going to
rape you”, it all started with street harassment, with so called “compliments”. I don’t want to go
outside and think “what if this t-shirt makes me look flirty to somebody”, or “are these pants too
tight, too provocative”, or “ will I make it home safe today”.
What’s your favorite thing about your city?
Well I did say in the beginning that I am from Peja, but I live in Pristina, the capital city of
Kosovo. And what I like about Pristina, is that people here can be whoever they want to be, yes
they get judged, but we just don’t seem to care about that part. Also I like the fact that if u need
help, and u are in the middle of a street or something, people will for sure help you. We care
about one another being “okay”, we don’t want to see anybody suffer.
How can your city better address street harassment?
Well they are doing great so far. Starting from the fact that we are a country that just got out of
a war, that was 20 year ago, but it still hurts, and people also have a very weak mentality, where
some still consider it a taboo if a girl losses her virginity before the wedding, or she got raped
because of what she was wearing, “she was asking for it”. Where sometimes getting beat up by
your husband is better than getting a divorce because then you are a whore, a society where is
considered shame to tell your opinion because you are a girl, but it is Not a shame to be killed because you are a girl, a society where the pregnant mother gets gifts when she is pregnant with
a son, but she losses all of her values and gets uglier when she is pregnant with a girl. So yeah to wrap it all around, I am very proud with the girls of my city, because in only 11 days we got 40
reports on Instagram about the street harassment girls dealt with, and those reports were not
only from Pristina.
What do you hope is the outcome of your account?
Well I just hope it turns into something big, and boys understand that we have had enough, we
are not objects, and we are NOT asking for it, if we have shorts on.
What’s the most difficult street harassment situation you’ve experienced?
Well I was out with my sister and my cousin and 2 boys started following us, for like 1 km, or 15-
20mins, until we got to our building and then we got into this small shop that was near the
building, and the guy that worked there was a friend of mine and he made sure they weren’t
there anymore and walked us home and saying stuff like “I know one of u is not a virgin”,
“c’mon u must WANT to lick it just once, it’s big I swear”, “I will satisfy you like no one else”, and
before going into the shop they said “don’t worry we will wait for you” etc, etc. And it was the
most difficult situation because I never thought something like that would happen.
What does being part of this campaign mean to you?
Well it does mean A LOT, knowing that I am one of the girls that actually has the courage to
speak up, and give hope to other girls that it’s okay if u share your story with us, it’s just the best
feeling ever.
