Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Strongest Link: An Oral History of Wartime Rape Survivors in Kosovo

The Strongest Link: An Oral History of Wartime Rape Survivors in Kosovo

Di Lellio, Anna
Kraja, Garentina

Hardcover

Series: Oxford Oral History

CriminologyGeneral World HistorySocial Movements

ISBN10: 0197699294
ISBN13: 9780197699294
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Jun 12 2025
Pages: 280
Weight: 1.23
Height: 0.94 Width: 6.65 Depth: 9.29
Language: English
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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