Albanian Legislative Review from Gender Equality Perspective - Achievements and Challenges

Gender-based and domestic violence happens in all societies all over the world. During the last decade in Albania gender - based violence has become more visible as a major problem. Domestic violence has been considered as a private matter and not a society issue. Albania did not recognize existence of domestic violence until 2006, when it adopted the Law on Measures against Violence in Family Relations. Official data show an increase in the general prevalence of violence against women in the family, from 56% in 2007 to 59.4% in 2013 and 52.9% in 2019. This legislative review presents an overview of the key legislative interventions in Albania to prevent gender-based and domestic violence and its impact in the society by highlighting main achievements and recommendations for further improvement, based on the analysis of results in the area. Methodology is based in a depth review of the key legal interventions on gender equality and domestic violence in the country. This review indicates that the response mechanisms have improved by following a multi-disciplinary point of view, however still profounder efforts are needed to provide proper services to domestic violence victims.