The CLWG organisation has been providing legal, social and psychological counselling for victims and survivors of violence in Albania for many years. From 2023, this commitment will be expanded to include an important field: combating violence in the digital space.
Violence against women and girls that takes place in the virtual world or is perpetrated through technical means has increased exponentially during COVID-19. The virtual and physical worlds overlap. Perpetrators use the internet and technical means such as cameras or GPS trackers to commit crimes.
Violence perpetrated online and through new technologies has a serious impact on the lives, physical and mental health of vulnerable people, their safety, their reputation, their political participation and their online presence.
However, Albanian laws offer no protection from the consequences of such violence. The concept of the digital dimension of violence against women is not generally recognised or used in policy documents, legal frameworks or public discourse.
The project aims to reduce violence against women in Albania. To this end, institutions, survivors of violence and the public are supported in recognising, reporting and responding to all forms of violence against women, including digital violence. The work starts at four points:
History of cooperation with CLWG:
IAMANEH supported the work of CLWG even before the focus on violence in the digital space. For over two decades, 150,000 women and girls have benefited from the direct help offered through the Counselling Hotline for Battered Women and Girls (CLWG) and in-house face-to-face counselling. In 2022, the National Helpline took 3620 calls and more than 1000 women and girls were supported through the CLWG's face-to-face and online counselling sessions for survivors of violence. The free telephone counselling service is the only national helpline for survivors of violence. The government finances around 25% of the costs of the counselling centre. In the last project phase, IAMANEH was one of the donors that was able to close the funding gap for this service with contributions. It is also important in the current project phase to strengthen the sustainability of this key service provider.
CLWG aims to enable an effective response to the needs of women and girls affected by gender-based violence and to ensure a resilient system to combat violence against women in Albania at central and local level. The expansion of legal counselling will enable better access to legal services for those affected. This will enable a more coordinated and improved response to the negative impact of violence on women, girls and their children, with the aim of leading them to a life free from violence and supporting them to successfully integrate into society.
In parallel, CLWG continues to raise awareness of women's rights issues and domestic violence through public campaigns and continuous sensitisation work in secondary schools and specifically with young men. The younger generation in particular can thus be mobilised to become non-violent and gain a new understanding of gender equality. In the new project phase (2023-2025), the CLWG will focus on the topic of digital violence.
CLWG campaigns for the rights of women in Albania so that they can break the vicious circle of violence and start a new life.
