The figures on gender-based violence presented by Neritan Sejamini on his Euronews Albania show, “Me pak fjalë” paint a worrying picture of the reality faced by Albanian women and girls.
According to a report released by OSCE in 2019, nearly 170,000 women had experienced intimate partner violence over the past year, while 120,00o women had been prey to physical or sexual violence at the hands of non-partners, including family members and strangers.
About 700,000 women in total have experienced physical violence (beatings, murders, including sexual harassment) or psychological violence (controlling behavior, intimidation, as well as restrictions placed on their personal freedom, and threats) over their lifetime.
The same conclusions were reached by another UNDP study conducted two years ago which found that domestic violence makes up 34% to 53% of all crimes reported in Albania each year. Furthermore, over 20% of murders in Albania result from domestic violence, with 90% of domestic violence victims being women.
Despite the statistics, a majority of women do not report the violence they experience to the police, and even those cases that do get reported rarely receive a punishment in court. Statistically, only 17% of battered women reported the violence they had experienced and only 8.4% sought help.
Sexual violence statistics are even worse, with a mere 3% of women who have been assault by men having reported it to the police.
Edlira Haxhiymeri, one of the first activists in Albania against gender-based violence, noted an encouraging trend in the numbers nevertheless. According to her, the number of women who denounce violence has increased, as has the level of awareness, which is the result of the contribution of many actors over the years.
“Civil society in Albania has been several steps ahead of state institutions in preventing and dealing with cases of domestic violence,” Haxhiymeri added.
According to sociologist Ermira Danaj, Albania is still a patriarchal society just like other countries in the region.
“We can have very good laws, but if women are not informed and do not trust the institutions, we will only unequivocally bring cases of violence,” Danaj said, adding that family education is very important as gender inequality starts at a young age.
Danaj also spoke of the way media influences and continues to reinforce stereotypes, perpetuating patriarchal violence. There is still much work that needs to be done, she concluded.
