Tirana, 14 October 2021 – During the last few years Albania has been facing a wave of reports of sexual violence against children. Reports made from children speak of sexual crimes committed against them in family settings, educational institutions, and online. Such an increase has brought to a crossroads all the institutions, especially child protection and law enforcement systems.
Lack of experience in handling cases, increased reporting by children and social prejudices that promote silence or non-reporting, have made it urgent the need for discussion amongst decision makers, public officials and professionals on what model Albania should implement to protect and care for child-victims of sexual violence and exploitation. Studies on online child sexual abuse show a worrying trend of an increasing number of children and young people falling victims.
Since the establishment of the Barnahus Albania, CRCA/ECPAT Albania has been leading the efforts to fight online and offline child sexual abuse, train the professionals across systems and provide coordinated services for all the children and youth who service sexual violence and exploitation. To the date more than 65 children have been taken under the protection of Barnahus Albania, mostly young girls.
Based on such a situation, CRCA/ECPAT Albania, in cooperation with the ECPAT International, PROMISE BARNAHUS Network, and the Children’s Rights Division of the Council of Europe, held a joint International Forum “BARNAHUS: A successful model in protecting children from sexual violence and exploitation”.
The forum heard the findings of the survey “Voices of Survivors in Albania”, the first study ever conducted in the country that places the voices of children surviving sexual exploitation on the Internet at the forefront of responding to this problem. The study conducted by WePROTECT Global Alliance and ECPAT International in partnership with CRCA / ECPAT Albania measured the quality and effectiveness of support services in protecting children from sexual violence.
According to the Report, in our country 100% of victims do not have knowledge or have a significant lack of information on the official reporting mechanisms available to them as well as on specific reporting platforms and lines, including web-based and established platforms, especially for children.
During the forum, PROMISE Barnahus also presented a very successful model of Barnahus in Europe, a model that has managed to help thousands of victims of sexual violence. The forum then focused on the presentation of the BARNAHUS model in our country and its operation over the years. Discussions continued with representatives of public institutions, CSOs, local and international experts on the benefits of the BARNAHUS model and how Albania can implement it more successfully.
A special place on the forum took the discussions on strengthening national and international dialogue and cooperation between public institutions in Albania and CSOs, to address the abuse and sexual exploitation of children on the Internet and in everyday life, such as and the support needed for survivors to overcome trauma and build a new life.
For more information, please contact:
CRCA/ECPAT Albania
Cel: +355675002025
E-mail: crca@crca.al
Media contact:
Albana Mustafaraj
E-mail: albana.mustafaraj@crca.al