Women in Albania’s Tourism Sector Gain Safety Skills through Self-Defense Training
With tourism on the rise in Albania, UN Women has been supporting self-defense trainings to empower over 230 women and girls working in hotels and hospitality. The initiative aims to build safety, confidence, and stronger workplace presence for women in one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors.
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UN Women, in partnership with Empowerment through Self-Defense Albania, supported a series of self-defense trainings for women and girls in frontline service roles in tourism, aimed at strengthening women’s safety, confidence, and ability to respond to risk in their workplaces and beyond.
From January to May 2025, ten training sessions were held in cities and towns across Albania, reaching over 230 participants working in hotels and other hospitality businesses. These workshops provided practical self-protection techniques alongside skills in communication, boundary-setting, and situational awareness, grounded in real-life scenarios faced by women in tourism.
“Even though I’m active and practice outdoor sports in my daily life, you never really know what kind of situation might arise,” said participant Sonila Hyseni. “This training has helped me stay alert and prepared. I would take it again.”
Others, like Erjola Nazaj, a participant in Durrës, found the training transformative.
“It helped me stay calm and know what to do when someone crosses my boundaries. I’ve learned to respond without fear and speak up. Communication has always been the hardest part for me, so more trainings like this are important.”
Gentiana Susaj, Founder of ESD Albania emphasized the deeper message behind the training:
“These trainings are about much more than physical techniques,” she said. “They’re about shifting the narrative. If something happens to us, we must never feel ashamed or blame ourselves; the shame belongs to the one who caused the harm. It doesn’t matter what time she went out or what she was wearing. These are excuses. The responsibility lies solely with the aggressor.”
The message at the heart of this initiative is clear: violence is never justified, and women working in tourism deserve to have the same recognition, rights, and safety as their male colleagues.
UN Women Representative in Albania, Michele Ribotta, who attended one of the sessions, highlighted the importance of bringing this approach into a fast-growing industry.
“"I’ve deeply admired the concept of empowering women and girls through self-defense since I first heard about it five years ago. Today, this concept has evolved into a training program that is integrated into the extracurricular activities of so many schools across the country. By expanding it to the tourism sector, we recognize the relevance and effectiveness of Empowerment through Self Defense in a field that increasingly employs women.
This first phase of the initiative marks a meaningful step toward building safer workplaces and communities for women across Albania’s tourism sector. A second phase is set to launch in autumn 2025, expanding the program to reach more women and more businesses, and continuing to build a culture where women’s voices are heard, their rights are upheld, and their contributions are equally valued.