OSCE Campaign for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence 2019: End the Silence
TIRANA, 25 November 2019 – Today, on the first day of the Annual 16 Days of Activism on against Gender-Based Violence, the OSCE is launching an awareness raising campaign in Albania entitled “End the Silence”. The campaign will take place during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
We will launch a social media campaign that can be followed on the OSCE Presence in Albania’s Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as on the OSCE's Instagram account. In December, we will deliver posters to police stations across the country with the aim of raising awareness of violence against women and the role of police in combating it.
The campaign is based on the key findings of the 2018 OSCE-led Survey on the Well-being and Safety of Women, for which more than 15,000 women were interviewed, in 7 OSCE participating States: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine. The research was also conducted in Kosovo. Over 1,800 women in Albania took part in the survey. Violence against women is a serious violation of human rights, yet it remains a widespread phenomenon all over the world.
According to the results of OSCE research violence against women also persists in Albania. 19% of women have experienced physical violence and 4% say they have experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner. More than half (62%) have experienced psychological violence by a partner. 34% of women have experienced sexual harassment since the age of 15, and 17% experienced it in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Women rarely report incidents of violence to the relevant authorities. Only 3% of womenwho have experienced violence at the hands of their current partner reported what they considered their most serious incident to the police and almost half the women interviewed in Albania (48%) think that domestic violence is a private issue that should be handled within the family. Shame, fear, economic dependence and distrust of institutions are the main barriers that women identify as reasons for not reporting violence.
Violence against women occurs in private and public spaces: at home, at work, in schools and universities, on the streets and on public transport as well as online. It can happen to any woman and will seriously affect her well-being and prevent her from fully participating in society.
Violence against women is a result of gender inequality, which is based on harmful existing norms and attitudes. In order to change the perception that sexual harassment or violence against women is normal and that it is a private matter, we all can and must support and encourage women to report any cases of violence and get the help they need. In Albania, help is available through National Hotline, www.hotlinealbania.org on 116 – 117.