"Prostitution, at alarming rates in Albania"/ Lekatari: The state is preparing a dangerous change to the Criminal Code

2025-07-29 09:43:00, Aktualitet CNA

"Prostitution, at alarming rates in Albania"/ Lekatari: The state is

Jacqueline Lekatari

Journalist and activist Zhaklin Lekatari has raised the alarm, saying that prostitution in Albania is spreading at a rapid pace in cities such as Tirana, Elbasan, and Durrës.

This activity is being disguised behind Airbnbs, beauty salons, and online networks, while listing the serious health problems that this illegal activity brings.

“Prostitution in Albania is no longer a secret issue. It is spreading at an alarming rate in cities like Tirana, Elbasan, Durrës, disguising itself behind Airbnbs, beauty salons and online networks. But this is not simply a story of “girls who choose it themselves”. It is a story of institutions that do not want to see, do not want to understand and do not want to intervene. Meanwhile, we have some serious health and social problems on the rise:

1. Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise. There is no medical check-up, no sex education, and no protocol for following up on suspected cases.

2. Exploited girls receive no help after arrest. They are prosecuted and then often abandoned without documents.

3. Human trafficking is finding soft ground. Most of the girls are foreign, recruited through false promises and sent to Albania as a transit destination towards the EU.

Institutions? They are either late, or they are involved.

Yes, men are arrested too. But what never happens is the construction of a clear policy for managing the phenomenon:

"There is no strategy for the rehabilitation of victims. There is no referral system between the police, health and social services. There is no database for tracking sexually transmitted diseases. There is no psychological, legal or social support for exploited women," writes Lekatari.

On the other hand, Lekatari emphasizes that this is happening at the same time that the state is preparing a dangerous change to the Criminal Code, not only decriminalizing sex work, but also legalizing it, without consulting the victims, without having social policies, without an institutional referral system, and still without an honest public debate.

"All this is happening at the same time that the Albanian state is preparing a dangerous change to the Penal Code: not only the decriminalization of sex work (positive), but also its legalization, without consulting the victims, without having social policies, without an institutional referral system and still without an honest public debate. The question we need to ask today is: Who has requested the legalization of sex work in Albania? Women, workers, victims, or men who buy sex?", she concludes./ CNA