At a ceremony in Prishtina on Wednesday, BIRN journalist and editor for Prishtina Insight, Xhorxhina Bami, was awarded the regional second prize for investigative reporting by the European Union for her article “TikTok Used Across Balkans to ‘Slutshame’ Women and Girls.”

Bami analysed 427 TikTok videos posted between September 2020 and November 2023 that sexualised, harassed, or targeted hundreds of women and girls with degrading content.

“A key finding was that none of the eight countries examined have specific legislation addressing cyberbullying as a standalone criminal offense,” Bami said. “Cases usually fall under hate speech, insult, or stalking provisions. Police and prosecutors need to understand the phenomenon and apply the law creatively, something that often doesn’t happen, leading to these cases being ignored,” Bami stated.

She emphasised that, “no one has the right to share your photos or videos without permission, let alone use them for harassment, abuse, or to spread personal data.”

Barbara Matejcic, the juror who presented the award, stated that this article shows how women and girls are being attacked. She emphasised how women “are shamed and humiliated” online while legal policies do not support them. She added that the situation is improving and “it is being recognised at the start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence.”

The third regional prize also went to a BIRN journalist from Serbia, Sasa Dragoljo, for his investigation into covert arms shipments from Serbia to Israel titled: “Belgrade to Beersheba: Serbian Arms Flown to Israel During Assault on Gaza.”

Meanwhile, first place was awarded to journalists Maja Jovanovska and Bojan Stojanovski from North Macedonia for uncovering a multimillion-euro public procurement scandal in the energy sector.