Violence against women, KiE: Albania progress, but there are still issues that need to be addressed urgently

2024-09-19 07:28:00, Sociale CNA

Violence against women, KiE: Albania progress, but there are still issues that

Albania is estimated to have made progress in its legislation against domestic violence and against women, but there are still issues that need to be resolved urgently. This is the conclusion reached by the new report published by GREVIO (Group of Experts on Measures against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence), which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.

Albania ratified this convention in 2013, and the first report on the situation in the country was in 2017. Since then, the country is credited with having undertaken "comprehensive legal changes", including the "Law on Measures against Violence in Family Relations " and the Criminal Code, as well as the adoption of numerous by-laws, general instructions and manuals. GREVIO "especially welcomes the extension to all Albanian municipalities of a coordinated referral mechanism", mentioned in the report as a "pioneer project" that brings institutionalized and coordinated protection closer to the victims of such violence.

The report for Albania also assesses "efforts to improve data collection through the introduction of a new database which allows the authorities to better integrate information from other interested parties". According to GREVIO, the other legal interventions that are being undertaken are evidence of the "dedication of the authorities to building a strong and stable legal framework to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence".

But despite progress in implementing the Istanbul Convention, the Group of Experts has identified areas that require "urgent action" by the authorities to fully comply with the provisions of the convention. The report draws attention to the fact that "traditional beliefs, strict gender roles and stereotypes remain a "serious challenge" in Albania, especially when it comes to sexual violence and rape, where the reporting of these crimes results in an extremely low rate".

The report notes that there is only one crisis management center for sexual violence cases in the entire country and that it is underutilized. GREVIO says there is an "urgent need" for the authorities to take further and more sustainable measures to raise awareness and create relevant support services.

The Istanbul Convention requires the prohibition of compulsory participation in any alternative dispute resolution process, including mediation and conciliation, in relation to cases of all forms of violence against women covered by the convention. This provision of the Convention stems from the principle that violence against women is a manifestation of unequal power relations, and that victims of such violence can never enter alternative dispute resolution processes on an equal basis with the perpetrator.

For this reason, the report for Albania requests that "urgently be dealt with" the practice that provides for the settlement by agreement, without a trial, for cases of rape and forced marriages. The document of the Group of experts, assesses that a significant challenge also remains and the high number of reported cases of violence against women, which are rejected somewhere along the path of the judicial system and never reach a conviction.

The report criticizes the fact that only victims who report a crime can receive specialist support services. Furthermore, according to GREVIO, the implementation of emergency restraining and protection orders clearly does not fulfill the commitments of the authorities, thus noting that there are "significant gaps between the political will for reform and the implementation of those provisions", of which continued to "undermine the trust of the victims".

GREVIO calls on the authorities to carry out "significant reforms" of the health care system, to ensure the provision of comprehensive health care services for women and girls, including those with mental health problems. According to the report, standardized care pathways should be implemented not only to ensure the identification of victims, but also to draw up medical reports detailing the violence suffered, highlighting important deficiencies in the provision of specialized care for victims of sexual violence.

The latest data from the Institute of Statistics, which belong to the year 2022, show that during that year, 1,371 women reported domestic violence. It is about the number of reports made to the police. The region with the largest share of women injured by domestic violence is that of Tirana, followed by the regions of Durrës and Vlora. Accordingly, 34.1% of the total number of injured women belong to the region of Tirana, 19.9% ??to Durres and 9.1% to Vlora. In 2022, out of 42 registered intentional murders, about 26.2% of them came as a result of murders due to family relationships.

Since 2006, when the law on the prevention of domestic violence, in all its forms, came into effect in Albania, more than 33 thousand women have been granted protection orders by the courts, while 611 people have been arrested for domestic violence. During the past year, due to extreme violence, 11 women lost their lives, while, since 2010, 159 women have been killed in Albania./ Voa