To: Mrs. Albana Koçiu, Minister of Health and Social Protection
z. Taulant Balla, Minister of Interior
Mrs. Ogerta Manastirliu, Minister of Education
Mr. Ulsi Manja, Minister of Justice
Mr. Olsion Çela, Attorney General
Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,
Recent events of sexual violence and exploitation of children (online and offline) have brought to the attention of society the question: are public institutions in Albania able to protect children from violence and sexual exploitation? The situation was further heightened by the public acceptance on a television program last night that the marriage of a 14-year-old girl was conducted by an imam in a mosque, according to the customs of the Muslim religion, in open violation of the Family Code, which guarantees that marriage can only be performed if the person has turned 18.
The issue of early marriages, especially girls, has long been a serious problem for Albania. Since they are performed in their customary form and not before bodies designated by law, authorities find it difficult to identify the true number of early marriages that occur in Albania. However, this does not remove the responsibility of institutions to protect children from sexual exploitation and expose them to customary marriages contrary to the law.
This month alone we have faced the case of three girls who were “married”, one of them from the age of 10. National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) data shows that there are about 200 child marriages in Albania per year! These “marriages” are nothing but the means that justify the sexual violence and exploitation of children, especially girls!
Police report each year that there are at least 150 sex crimes committed against children by adults. Data from the Ministry of Education last year showed that almost 40% of girls did not continue secondary school, thus ending their education cycle by the end of compulsory education. Aren’t these girls a contingent of early marriages? What does the child protection system in all municipalities do to identify cases of exploitation of all these children? Where is the police and justice system when religious communities marry children according to their codes by legalizing sexual violence and exploitation of children by adults? What about our teachers who are an army of at least 33,000 public educators? Where are all these people who are paid by the Albanian Government and our taxes, when the children need help?
Albania has good laws, as well as many legal shortcomings in terms of child protection. We are signatories to an infinite number of international conventions and acts. Our national policies for children are countless. We have local, national, dependent and independent institutions, which have only one duty: to protect children! So, why are they needed when children and adolescents continue to be groomed, blackmailed, violated, and exploited, as if all these human and institutional capacities do not exist!
Your role not only as politicians, but as the heads of some of the main institutions of the Government is irreplaceable, so I find it worth writing this open letter and recommending you take the following measures as soon as possible:
- Opening a national inquiry on all religious communities in Albania, which perform marriages according to their canonic codes or run schools and boarding schools where children and adolescents live, to identify the number of early child marriages they may have had carried out, as well as to interview children for any possible sexual harassment or violence by clergy or other persons employed in such places.
- The Ministry of Health and Social Protection, as the responsible authority for child protection, should lead all measures for the protection of children wherever they are. In this context, the adoption of Safeguards and Codes of Conduct for child and adolescent protection from violence and exploitation, for all institutions, organizations and business sectors, could be among the first measures to be taken, combined with the adoption of basic criteria of running social care services for children. In this context, we believe that a comprehensive reform of the child protection system it has become an emergency to be able to respond to the new social realities of children in Albania.
- 0The Ministry of Education, which faces the phenomenon of non-attendance of high schools by a significant number of girls aged between 14- 16 years old, should have long paid attention to minimize and eliminate this phenomenon that promotes gender inequalities and fuels early marriage of girls in Albania. In this context, we recommend that together with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, establish a National Program for Girls, which should include concrete initiatives and activities for supporting girls who do not want to pursue education, but that still need support, to empower them as individuals.
- The Ministry of Justice should make public as soon as possible the new Criminal Code. On the other hand, together with the High Judicial Council, urgently must issue a joint instruction to judges in Albania to not allow recognition by the courts of the marriages under the age of 18 and recommend serious punishment of all criminal offences of a sexual nature, where the victims are children under the age of 18.
- The Attorney General in cooperation with the National Police, as the main institutions of prosecution, safety and public order, should implement new approaches to protecting children’s victims of crime. First of all, this is an obligation arising from the Law on the Rights of the Child and the Juvenile Code, while secondly, because of the increase in the number of criminal offences against children, the establishment of Departments for Crimes against Children in both the National Police and the General Prosecutor’s Office. This would protect children and adolescents from crime and its consequences. In the meantime, it is equally urgent that until the adoption of the new Penal Code , you adopt a joint circular, instructing police officers and Prosecutors to prioritize investigation of sexual offences against children, while every child under 18 who is exploited for prostitution should be treated as a victim of crime and not as the author of the criminal offense, as it happened a few days ago with the detention of two underage girls in Durres, who were charged as sex workers.
Child protection cannot be done on isolated islands. It is everyone’s duty. In this regard, your leadership and responsibility for protecting children can encourage liberation of society from apathy to respond to the crimes that are taking place against children. Two months ago, we signed the National Pact for the Protection of Children from Sexual Violence (online and offline). The Implementation of the Plan requires joint and coordinated actions between all ministries, law enforcement agencies, civil society, and the business sector, so your contribution is irreplaceable. Act today! Together we can!
On behalf of CRCA/ECPAT Albania,
Altin Hazizaj
Executive Director