According to data from the State Police seen by Exit, 13% of complaints of domestic violence were criminally prosecuted between January and December 2020.
Out of 4701 reported cases of domestic violence during the year, the police prosecuted 615. They also issued 2816 protection orders, equating to 59.9% of the reports.
In 2019, there were 4627 reported cases and 535 criminal prosecutions, equating to an 11.5% protection rate. This shows an increase in the prosecution rate in 2020. 2834 protection orders were issued during 2019, equivalent to almost eight a day, a similar figure to 2020.
Based on these figures, there was an average of 12 cases of reported violence every day in 2020 and almost 13 per day in 2019.
In November, in honour of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the State Police published data for the year so far which noted 2980 individual complaints and 523 arrests. ThisAwas an arrest rate of just 17.55% meaning that overall for the year, the actual rate was even less.
It’s estimated that the actual number of incidents of domestic violence increased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. This was a trend seen globally and reported by various local NGOs. It’s likely however that women were less likely to report violence against them as they were trapped at home and unable to do so, or leave the violent situation.
Albania has one of the highest instances of domestic violence in Europe with over 50% of women experiencing a form of violence at least once in her life.
