While in Albania, cases of violence against children often last for several days as television noise, indignation on Facebook, or temporary debates in the studio, in Kosovo a serious case of abuse in a private kindergarten has ended with a strong court decision.
The Basic Court in Ferizaj has sentenced the educator with the initials MA, accused of mistreating children in a private kindergarten in the city, to 11 years in prison.
According to the decision of the Juvenile Department, she was found guilty of the criminal offense of "child abuse or abandonment", for which she received the main sentence of 11 years in prison. For the charge of "light bodily injury", the court sentenced her to 6 months in prison, a sentence that was converted to a 6 thousand euro fine with her consent.
The incident, according to the court, occurred on November 4 and 5, 2025 in a private kindergarten in Ferizaj, where the educator is suspected of having exercised physical and psychological violence against two 2-year-old children.
The case file describes shocking scenes: children were forced to sleep, pushed, pulled by the hair, and slammed to the floor. In one case, one of them suffered head injuries, lost hair, and had skin lesions.
The decision is seen as a strong signal that child abuse cannot be treated as an ordinary incident or a scandal that is forgotten after a few days. In a region where institutions often react late or with minimal administrative measures, the sentence handed down in Kosovo sets an important precedent for how the justice system can respond to violence against children.
The debate on safety in daycare centers and kindergartens has repeatedly returned in Albania, especially after the publication of videos and reports of violence against children. But many of these cases have remained mainly at the level of public and media reaction, without always producing strong criminal consequences.
The case of Ferizaj shows a different approach: when evidence is collected, violence is documented, and the system decides to react, child abuse can be treated as a serious crime and not simply as an episode that fades away with the passing of the media cycle.
