This entry reviews sexual abuse of children in central Balkan countries and territories (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Vojvodina), where different Muslim ethnic groups live as a majority or a minority, and mostly as indigenous peoples (Roma, Bosniaks, Albanians, Turks, and others).

At the end of Ottoman rule, Sharīʿa courts were transformed from courts of general jurisdiction into special courts whose jurisdiction was reduced to the issues of family and succession law, and issues related …