Among these victims, only half of them had denounced their case to the authorities, and 80% of them had denounced violence in person, by going to the police station or the prosecution\u2019s office. When asked about online denouncement, none of them said to had heard of the \u2018Rapo Shp\u00ebto\u2019 app, built to facilitate the reporting of violence and trafficking cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For lawyers and legal experts representing gender-based violence, there is a diversity of domestic violence cases that end up at institutions\u2019 doors or lawyers\u2019 offices through meetings and in-person denouncements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the last five years, I have followed over 300 gender-based violence cases in the city of Durres alone. They include a series of cases, from physical and psychological violence to sexual and economic violence,\u201d lawyer Erisilda Shpata explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSociologist Entela Binjaku said for Amfora that, \u201cgender-based violence knows no religion, ethnicity or social status\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis happens in a society where the models inherited from the past clash with modern behavioral models,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The women met during this investigation stated that the violence they experienced from their husbands was denounced after experiencing it for years. Such a thing happened due to the presence of children in their lives, their inability to raise them, and the hope that things would change over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow that I am recalling it, I can fully say that I was blind and I have judged myself for his actions in every swearing, offense and physical violence,\u201d added Stela who works 11 hours a day to be economically independent and is successfully managing to raise her two daughters alone despite a series of hardships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Domestic violence victims stated that they initially justified violence from their spouse due to the economic situation the family was experiencing. Apart from the family situation, Elona had to deal with her husband\u2019s parents; however, after 10 years, she decided to denounce violence for the very first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn 2021, the situation became unbearable. Children were growing up in between violence and depression, and I started to suffer when my daughter was still a minor. Then I decided to denounce violence, to flee home and go to a shelter for almost four months,\u201d said the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTechnology silences,\u201d women mostly denounce violence at the police stations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and despite the apps and online platforms which offer opportunities to people to express themselves and seek help, many women are still struggling due to the barriers of fear, lack of digital skills, and immediate support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring the summer of 2021, hell came to my home. My husband, who was drunk the whole time, blamed me for every family problem and exerted violence on me. His parents had a negative influence on him; the children were minors, and I had no other choice. I denounced him to the police station after 10 years of marriage,\u201d recalled Elona with grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stela, another woman from Durres who consented to be identified by her first name, recalled that she spent 10 years of her marital life under violence of all forms from her husband, who exerted violence over her, causing multiple psychological and physical traumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImmediately after getting married, I experienced violence from my husband. Since he became father to my two daughters, I put up with him for a long time refusing my existence,\u201d said the 46-year-old woman in shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Stela, who is waiting for the court decision on the dissolution of her marriage, a process which has taken a full three years, the moments she decided to escape violence have never been easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI initially got a protection order; however, after he left the house, I was left alone to feed my two girls, pay rent, and any take care of any other duties, hence it has been very difficult to go out,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The girls and women know and recognize the State Police as the best opportunity to denounce violence cases, even though the development of technology should have been accompanied by different forms of education and direct support to bring effective and accessible opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice passed accountability to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, which listed a series of training activities organized for capacity building as well as awareness-raising campaigns. What was noticeable was the lack of a concrete online violence reporting mechanism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It mentioned the \u201cREVEALB\u201d platform (an electronic system for registration, referral and monitoring of domestic violence cases from the local domestic violence coordinators), where from January to November 2024, a total of 595 cases of violence of have been reported, 513 of which were violence cases against girls and women. Nevertheless, this overview is filled in by social workers and it serves; it does not provide a direct communication channel to the victims of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe majority of the girls and women choose to head to the police stations, either in person or through their mobile phones,\u201d lawyer Shpata elaborated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elona does not recall how many times she had to call the Durres Police to denounce the violence she experienced from her husband; however, she still recognizes it as the best opportunity to seek help there, highlighting that she always reports violence \u201cthrough the police phone number\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had memorized it, and when I decided to denounce him, it was the only thing that came to my mind. Even now, whenever I denounce my husband, I do so through the police, because help comes fast and is the only way I know,\u201d Elona stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 80% of the Media Amfora questionnaire respondents stated that they went in person to the state police to denounce violence, while 20% had followed other procedures, such as directly denouncing violence to the prosecution and court, or having legal representation through civil society lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Violence remains \u201cinvisible\u201d in rural areas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mirela Gjoni, a gender equality activist since 2000 in Elbasan, noted that many women of this District struggle due to pressure and lack of access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGirls in the rural areas experience more pressure related to the patriarchal mindset compared to girls from the urban areas. Access to services is also limited, due to remoteness and lack of information in several cases. They have fewer economic opportunities because they do not manage agriculture revenues themselves,\u201d Gjoni elaborated to Amfora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond Elbasan, in Pogradec, according to the local organizations, the girls and women experiencing domestic violence have no in-depth knowledge, even though they might have heard on TV or social media about the institutions that have the legal responsibility to come and help them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey have no in-depth or accurate knowledge regarding the pathways they can follow; however, they have information that there is a solution. They do not really know, hence awareness raising need to continue, because they do not know in practice nor do they understand how they should act through concrete steps,\u201d explained \u2018Un\u00eb Gruaja n\u00eb Pogradec\u2019 (Me the Woman in Pogradec) Center, which works for many years in the field of protecting girls and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The women met during the preparation of this article revealed that they have denounced the violence they have experienced from their spouses after living with it for many years due to the presence of children in their lives, their inability to raise them all by themselves, and the hope that things would change over time. The cases of violence that have ended up in court have increased considerably in recent years. The majority of such cases come from Tirana and Fier. A total of 254 protection orders were issued in the latter in 2020, whereas in 2024, the court in Fier issued 450 protection orders. Meanwhile, protection orders have decreased in Vlora from 157 issued in 2020 to 90 in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGirls and women face many difficulties when it comes to reporting violence, due to the infrastructure. The phone is not very accessible, while transportation to the nearest police station or other institutions is almost impossible for them. Due to their isolation, they use social media very little,\u201d Oliana Manaj from \u2018Vatra\u2019 Psychosocial Center in Vlora stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The analysis of the Amfora questionnaire showed that most of the victims of violence and their relatives had not heard of or used apps, hotlines, or other online reporting forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWork on the ground shows that young girls who have more access to social media know several platforms where they can denounce violence, however not all of them use them because they are economically dependent on their husband\/partners, as they do not have a profession and they have not worked in the past,\u201d Oliana Manaj explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ministry of Health and Social Protection explained that it financially supports the functioning of 16 social services for domestic and gender-based violence victims, explaining that there are other forms of reporting violence through the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the framework of the Social Fund, financial support has been provided for the establishment and functioning of 3 specialized centers on the regional level for violence victims. Throughout the years, these centers have treated, supported, and provided assistance to around 1165 beneficiaries, mostly girls and women,\u201d the Ministry officially responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFree online counseling services, reporting of violence and abuse against children, \u2018Alo 116-111\u2019, as well as the ‘Counseling hotline for Women and Girls\u2019, victims from all forms of abuses and violence\u2026\u201d, ranked the ministry as some of the initiatives from Civil Society Organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the victims reported to Amfora that she had heard about the violence reporting hotlines; however, they were not successful. \u201cI have tried to reach the Durres Municipality helpline; however, it did not work,\u201d explained the woman anonymously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For sociologist Entela Binjaku, the services offered by the state institutions and the alternative mechanisms of reporting violence remain weak and need to be reformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe time has come to focus on the quality of our actions, their sustainability, and the increase of social pressure toward the services offered by the state institutions, which seem to be weak and without an impact,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 2011, mechanisms have been established in 61 municipalities through officers who coordinate work with other institutions on the local level, such as the court, police, and different associations that come in support of domestic violence victims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDurres Municipality has a special helpline, the 0800 9888; however, from my experience and the experience of violence victims, this number does not work,\u201d explained lawyer Erisilda Shpata, who has provided counseling and legal support to dozens of women in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Durres Municipality, apart from this unit of violence reporting, also has under its dependency 2 community centers which work on such issues. Even though in 2023 alone the Durres Police Station registered 231 cases of violence, none of them seems to have been in contact with these centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo cases have been identified at the Nishtulla Community Center of the Rrashbull Community Center from January to December 2023,\u201d Durres Municipality officially responded to Amfora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, physical violence remains more prevalent. The victims\u2019 relatives who reported to Amfora said that in 58% of cases, the violence was physical while in 38% of cases there was psychological violence and only 4.2% of cases were sexual violence. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite the increase in institutions treating domestic violence cases and the creation of awareness-raising apps which use high-end technology, women, and girls who are victims of gender-based violence in Albania struggle to find the right space to report violence through the internet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":18563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3895],"tags":[4393,4395,6518,6523,6522,6517,6515,6516,6519,6521,6520],"class_list":["post-18560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis-en","tag-amfora-3","tag-amfora-media-2","tag-based-violence-victims-albania","tag-entela-binjaku-en","tag-erisilda-shpata-en","tag-gender-based-violence-victims","tag-silence-violence","tag-technology-violence","tag-violence-albania","tag-violence-online","tag-women-albania"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"formatted_date":"21 June 2025","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18560"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18571,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18560\/revisions\/18571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amfora.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/amfora.al\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Illustrative-photo-from-the-Red-Shoes-anti-violence-campaign-in-Durres.-Photo-Media-Amfora-1024x683.jpg\")
![\"Number](\"https:\/\/amfora.al\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Number-of-protection-orders-issued-by-courts--1024x683.jpg\")