UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 13) Law No. 108/2014 “On the State Police“ was amended, strengthening actions in the field of domestic violence and trafficking, protection measures for children and interinstitutional collaboration.
Para 41) Law "On legal aid", which entered into force on 1 June 2018, provide access to justice for individuals with economic difficulties including disadvantaged groups. The law defines conditions, procedures and rules on administration of legal aid guaranteed by the state, equal access to the justice system, professional legal aid, and state institutions responsible for administering legal aid. This law provides as beneficiaries of stateguaranteed legal aid regardless of their income and property, expressly victims of domestic violence, sexually abused victims and victims of trafficking in human beings, to other categories such as child victims and juveniles in conflict with the law, persons in social care, persons without legal capacity to act and victims of discriminatory behavior.
Para 42) Law No.22 / 2018 "On Social Housing", with regard of social housing programs provides for priority in terms of securing social housing victims of domestic violence, victims of trafficking and potential victims of trafficking.
Para 44) National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for cases of violence in family relations was established at the local level in 60 municipalities (out of the then total of 61 municipalities), as well employees for gender equality, with the role of local coordinators against domestic violence. Since 2016 are adopted standards of services for victims of domestic violence. There is need for a multidisciplinary, rapid and effective approach, for national and local government units' awareness on budgeting of gender priorities, applying for funding to provide social services for victims of domestic violence.
Para 45) The State Police has established a telephone service number 129 or 11 for all emergencies which operates 24 hours in 7 days. Since 2017, the Free Counselling Line 116- 117, is offering free of charge primary service of psycho-emotional support, counselling and assistance for the referral of violence, in a secure and confidential environment. National service counselling standards for victims of domestic violence were adopted.
Para 49) There are 6 non-public centers providing residential services (2 in Tirana, 1 in Berat, 1 in Korca, 1 in Elbasan, 1 in Vlora). In December 2018, was opened a Crisis Management Center for Victims of Sexual Violence “Lilium Center”, at the premises of the Tirana University Hospital Center "Mother Theresa". This Center provides 24/7 integrated services to victims of sexual violence by a multidisciplinary team. Standards of this Center were approved by Instruction of the Minister of Health and Social Protection in November 2018.
Para 78) The provision of services to victims of domestic violence has been strengthened. The number of children accommodated annually is relatively consistent, from 38–59 cases per year. A tailored integration service plan is developed for each child that includes their enrolment and monitoring of school attendance. Various awareness-raising and entertainment activities are carried out aiming to develop their social and cognitive skills. Specialist social workers and psychologists at the centre support the mothers to become part of the employment and housing schemes offered by the local government or non-profit organisations, in order to improve their financial situation. Other services available to victims, provided by public and private centres include, housing and psycho-social support, referral for medical care, legal aid, professional training courses, and employment mediation.

UN Compilation:
Para 30) … CEDAW was concerned about the prevalence of gender-based violence, the low rate of reporting of cases of gender-based violence against women, the insufficient implementation of the national referral mechanism, the insufficient number of shelters for victims of gender-based violence and the restrictive criteria for admission to those shelters, and the frequent failure to enforce protection orders and emergency protection orders. The country team made similar observations and highlighted that women from disadvantaged groups faced additional barriers to accessing services.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 27) … Both, JS5 and JS2 reported that the Law “On Free Legal Aid provided by the State” 111/2017, which provided the right for victims of domestic violence to obtain legal assistance, had not been fully implemented.
Para 29) According to JS5, victims of sexual violence received little protection and few services as the country did not have rape crisis centers or sexual violence referral centers. Victims also faced problems accessing short-term housing with the number of shelters in the country and their capacity being insufficient.

National Report:
Para 35) A new Code of Administrative Procedures (Law 44/2015) was approved by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania on 30.04.2015 and entered into force on 28.05.2016. An important step is the provision related the reverse of the burden of proof in matters of discrimination. The public body should be guided by the principle of equality and antidiscrimination for grounds provided by law, including gender and gender identity.
Para 120) The National Action Plan for Non-discrimination on the Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 2012-2014 and the National Action Plan for LGBTI Persons 2016-2020 foresee several measures to address discrimination and integration of these groups. The strategic goals are: Improving the legal and institutional framework, as well as raising awareness on non-discrimination and protection of LGBTI people's rights, in line with international standards; Elimination of all forms of discrimination against the LGBTI community, through capacity building of law enforcement structures; Improving access to employment, education, health, housing and sports for LGBTI persons, while guaranteeing their equal opportunities.

UN Compilation:
Para 6) The United Nations country team noted that despite legal developments to promote non-discrimination, discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons persisted, including denial of their right to marry and have a family, the right to gender reassignment surgery for transgender persons, and the right to self-determination in relation to bodily integrity for intersex persons. The country team also noted that there was an urgent need to improve the range of and access to high quality sexual and reproductive health services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. It recommended that Albania enforce the current legislation and national action plan and improve access to sexual and reproductive health services. 13 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that it had led the “free and equal” campaign to promote equal rights for and fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, through the media and national events.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 5) Joint Submission 3 (JS3) stated that Article 18 of the Constitution included the grounds for prohibition from discrimination and did not include sexual orientation and gender identity as a prohibited ground for discrimination. It noted the adoption of the 2015 resolution by the Parliament “On protection of rights and freedoms of persons belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Albania” , of the LGBTI National Action Plan for 2016-2020, and of the 2015 amendments to the Labour Code prohibiting discrimination in employment and professions on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. S3 reported, however, that the Family Code defined marriage only between a man and a woman, and did not guarantee the right of LGBTI couples to adopt or have children via artificial insemination, limiting patrimonial rights. Despite the development of a manual on detecting hate crimes on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and of a series of trainings for police officers, JS3 observed that the police force remained largely untrained and uninformed on LGBTI rights. The number of reported hate-crime cases on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity was very low and data collection on hate crimes was still lacking. JS3 also noted the reported frequent use of homophobic slurs and bullying against LGBT students in schools, while school psychologists largely ignored the requests for support and, in some cases, offered conversion therapies. JS3 further noted that transgender students were forced to drop out from schools because of isolation and discrimination.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 20) JS7 reported that LGBTI persons lacked full access to healthcare and experienced poor quality of service due to discrimination, stigmatization and negative attitudes. JS3 specified that transgender persons faced discrimination or refusal of services from health professionals on the grounds of their gender identity, and that there were no medical multidisciplinary team working with intersex babies nor written protocols for establishing intersex diagnosis.