One in two (52.9%) Albanian women have experienced violence during their life time. This is one of the findings of the third National Population Survey “Violence Against Women” launched today.

Following the first and second national surveys (2007, 2013) which focussed only on domestic violence, , the 2018 Survey in addition to intimate partner domestic violence collects for the first time data on the nature and prevalence of other forms of violence: dating violence, non-partner violence, sexual harassment, stalking and brings forth findings on social norms related to violence against women.

65.8% of surveyed women experienced dating violence during their life-time, 47% have experienced intimate partners domestic violence; 1 in 5 women experienced physical and/or sexual violence and 18.2% of women experienced non-partner violence.

The Survey reveals that 18.1% of women experienced sexual harassment during their life-time and 12.6% of women experienced stalking.

The Survey brings data on the acceptance of violence against women among men and women in Albania. Findings revealed that 1 in 2 women believe violence between a husband and wife is a private matter; and 46.5% of women believe that a woman should tolerate some violence to keep her family together; 26.1% of women believe a woman should be ashamed or embarrassed to talk to anyone if she is raped. The survey data serves to monitor progress on indicators for Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 16 related to violence against women and girls.

All the surveyed women, said that domestic, sexual violence and harassment, and stalking are major concerns for the Albanian society. 83 % believe that it is key for the country to have
laws that protect women and girls from violence in marriage/families and 81 .9% believe that it is necessary to have in place legislation that protects them from sexual assault and rape.

Brian Williams UN Resident Coordinator in Albania:”Taking into consideration these findings, it becomes urgent to strengthen policies, action plans, including legislation, that protects women and girls from all forms of violence against women, including new or newly recognized forms of Violence Against Women such as sexual harassment and stalking, and forms of VAW that are under-reported by women to police and justice agencies, and victim support organizations”.

The Survey was conducted across 12 prefectures in Albania with a sample of3,443 households wherewomen aged 18-74 were interviewed42.4% of surveyed women had a lower secondary education (8-9 years), 27.8% had a upper secondary education, and 19.7% had a university education; only 7.7% of women had only a primary education or

The Survey was conducted by INSTAT in partnership with UNDP and UN Women and funding from the Government of Australia and UN Women in the framework of the UN Women regional project on gender statistics and SDGs “Women Count” and Government of Sweden in the frame of the UN Joint Programme "Ending Violence Against Women in Albania”.

To get a copy of the Report and infographics ho here: