Albania launches ‘Femicide Watch’ initiative

On International Women’s Day, the People’s Advocate in cooperation with UN Women launched the ‘Femicide Watch’. This first of its kind initiative will collect and analyze data at the national level to promote more effective policies and mechanisms to prevent gender-based killings of women.

“If we don't collect accurate and comparable data on a certain crime, we won't fully understand it or know how to stop it.” highlighted Erinda Ballanca, People’s Advocate, in the presence of government representatives, civil society, media, academia and international organizations. Participants highlighted the need to improve inter-institutional cooperation to prevent and tackle this persisting issue.

Defined as an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation, femicide may be driven by stereotyped gender roles, discrimination towards women and girls, unequal power relations between women and men, or harmful social norms.

During the last 13 years, 159 women and girls were killed by men in Albania, mostly family members.

Globally, according to UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), around 89,000 women and girls were killed intentionally in 2022 across the globe. 55 per cent (48,800) of all female homicides were committed by family members or intimate partners. This means that, on average, more than 133 women or girls were killed every day by someone in their own home.

“Femicide represents the ultimate failure of a society. We must stop them! Activating a femicide watch is a practical contribution to ensure existing protection measures and prevention efforts become fully effective.” said Michele Ribotta, UN Women Representative in Albania.

The ‘Femicide Watch’ will cooperate with relevant actors who play a role to collect and analyze data on femicide in Albania. The data will be collected and analyzed in line with the Statistical Framework approved by the United Nations. This initiative is undertaken in cooperation with UN Women, as part of the UN Joint Programme "Ending violence against women in Albania", financed by the Government of Sweden.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women has been calling on the state parties to set up mechanisms to provide annual data and analysis on cases of femicides. The Establishment of the Femicide Watch is part of the Albanian response to this call.

To view the Albanian version, click here.