Tirana, October 8, 2020 – CRCA / ECPAT Albania, Barnahus Albania and theFree Legal Aid Office for Children and Youthin Albania, made public this morning in an on-line forum, the draft law “On Sex Offenders Register in Albania”. The law is drafted by some the best child rights experts, as well as lawyers of the Free Legal Office. Part of the forum, which lasted about 2 hours, were representatives of public institutions and CSOs working for children and women in Albania, legal experts and NGO partners from Northern Macedonia and Kosovo.
During the last 2 years, Albania has been involved in a series of scandals of violence and sexual exploitation of children in schools, orphanages or by the parents. Raising awareness of children and women about sexual violence has led to increased reporting to the police, child protection and domestic violence services.
According to the CRCA / BECAN study: 1 in 10 children in Albania is a victim of sexual violence. From January 2019 – June 2020, 66 cases of children who have been victims of harassment and sexual violence by their close relatives or family members have been publicly reported; 3 girls have committed suicide, and only during the last 2 weeks 5 more cases have been reported – show the figures of Barnahus Albania.
CRCA / ECPAT Albania has since 2016 requested the establishment of a national register of sex offenders. Given the increase in the number of reports and the lack of legal initiatives by the government or the Parliament, CRCA decided to engage its best experts to prepare the law and then present it to the Parliament for approval as a private members bill.
The Draft-Law which aims to prevent crimes and sexual violence against children in Albania, by monitoring and controlling the movements of convicted or self-registered pedophiles. The law is based on the best practices of several countries, such as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, the United States and northern Macedonia. The register will serve public and private institutions, working with and for children, to eliminate the employment of pedophiles in environments where there are children, while the law itself has a strong social and preventive character, giving the opportunity to any person who is a pedophile to avoid committing sexual crimes.
CRCA after discussions and consultations with government institutions, civil society and children ‘s rights experts, will present the final version of the draft law to the Parliament for approval.
For more information, please contact:
CRCA / ECPAT Albania
crca@crca.al