CONTRIBUTION

  Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level

                                                                        Albania

                                              Prepared by Ani Ruci

                        

                                                                              

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                               

                 

                                                                              february 2017

Table of Content

Glossary of Acronyms........................................................................................Page 3

Introduction.......................................................................................................         4

Current situation of DV/GBV in Albania............................................................       5

Official Data on the level of Domestic Violence in the last years...........................    5

National Legislation on DV/GBV and Istanbul Convention.……………………...   7

National Legislation and its implementation……………………………………....    9

Information on Istanbul Convention………………………………………….........  10

Media-best channel to inform Albanian communities on Istanbul Convention...........11

Istanbul Convention on Services to victims of violence and situation in Albania........12

Lesson learned and good practices…………………………………………................13

Challenges …………………………………..……...……............................................14

Recommendations……………………….…………………..…….............................   15

glossary of acronyms

IC                           Istanbul Convention

DV                          Domestic Violence

GBV                       Gender Based Violence

CoE                         Council of Europe

RM                           Referral Mechanism

EPO                         Emergency Protection Order

NaGVT                   Network Against Gender Violence and Trafficking

PO                            Protection Order

VPO                         Violated Protection Order

CEMT                      Centre of Evaluatio, Monitoring & Treining 

LGU                         Local Government Unit

FFO                          Federal Foreign Office

MoI                          Ministry of Interiors

MoH                         Ministry of Health  

MSWY                     Ministry of Social Welfare andYouth

NGO                         Non Governmental Organization

GoA                          Government of Albania

     

INTRODUCTION

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as Istanbul Convention, (hereinafter referred to as IC)  has been and remains to the attention of  Refleksione Women’s Association, one the first three women’s rights organizations established in Albania right after the political changes, that started in 1991. Our attention stems by the fact that IC offers the most advanced provisions for preventing Domestic Violence (DV) and Gender Based Violence (GBV) and supporting its victims. The women rights, gender equality and efforts to reduce and eliminate the violence against women are priorities of Refleksione strategy and activity.

This contribution is based on the identificationby Refleksione of the current problems in 10 municipalities regarding DV/GBV legal framework and the Scope of the Istanbul Convention.  It is possible thanks to implementation by Refleksion of a pioneer initiative: the project “Free from the fear of violence-Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level” in 10 Municipalities: Rrëshen, Shkodra, Vlora, Berat, Pogradec, Lezha, Puka, Elbasan, Lushnja and Tirana - Municipal Unit  Nr.6, March-December 2015, supported by Federal Foreign Office, (FFO). The project aimed to strengthen the prevention of and the response to DV/ GBV at the local level based on the Istanbul Convention provisions

Albania has been amid the first 8 countries, members of Council of Europe ( CoE) that firstly signed the IC in 2011 and ratified it in February 2013, making thus the IC provisions an obligatory part and parcel of the Albanian legal framework regarding the prevention of DV /GBV and the protection of their victims. Refleksione prepared in the same year of IC ratification, in 2013 a roadmap for implementing the Convention in Albania and developed estimated costs for implementing it. Our initiative to bring the Istanbul Convention to the local level came immediately after IC entered into force on August 1^st, 2014and was based in the fact that in Albania the efforts to prevent and combat GBV depend, at a large degree, on the implementation of the relevant legal framework and the functioning of the prevention and support mechanisms at the local level. Nearly all services to victims of DV/GBV such as police response, health services, social services, hotlines, shelters and employment services - part of the Referral Mechanism (RM) to address Violence against Women - are delivered at the local level.

It was also based on Refleksione legacy of knowledge and practice in the response and prevention of violence against in Albania. In the last five years Refleksione led an initiative by the Albanian Network against Gender Violence and Trafficking (NaGBVT) that established formal RMs for preventing DV/GBV and providing services to its victims in above mentioned 10 municipalities. Bringing the IC to the local level we aimed to address the need of RMs to be informed and educated about the IC’s provisions and to equip them with relevant tools, skills, and procedures that enabled them to use these provisions in their daily work in preventing and combating GBV. The project  “Free from thre fear of violence – Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level” targeted the representatives of institutions that make up the DV/ GBV RMs and  community members in target municipalities, with particular attention paid to men and boys.

This contribution is product of the update information on the situation in target municipalities related to the IC provisions by the representatives of institutions that make up the RMs and comments by community members.Refleksione would like to thank its coordinator Mariola Gjika and its local coordinators in 10 target municipalities where its initiative was implemented: Stela Prendi, Marsida Sejdini, Anila Çela, Rezarta Andoni, Zengjine Lika, Leonora Leka,Arta Balliu, Arselajda Pepkola, Jeta Xhabija, Besmira Selmani and Marta Feta for their commitment in project implementation and inputs to this contribution.

1.   Current situation on DV/GBV in Albania and IC.

Violence against women in all the forms it occurs is still persistent in Albania as the most recurrent abuse of the human rights. It represents a health problem that could lead up to eventual death and to security problems for the whole society. It compromises the well-being of Albanian women and deprivesthem of their dignity and self-esteem. Researches  on DV/ GBV indicate that abuse of women in Albania is a complex and multi-dimensional issue. Factors behind it include cultural, economic, social, family and individual aspects that play their role in the women vulnerability to become victims of violence. Given its levels, frequencyand social costs DV/GBV remains a major concernin Albania, as one of the most seriousand recurrent types of human rights violation and themost common forms of violence in Albania, that accounts for mostof lives lost among the survivors of violence against women.

1.1.      Official Data on the level of DV/GBV.

The two first tables below present the recent data on DV/GBV cases at the national level reported to the General State Police Department, Tirana from all 12 counties in Albania.

January - September  2016
	Total	Tiranea	Durrës	Vlora	Shkodra	Berat	Fier	Kukës	Dibër	Elbasan	Gjirokastër	Korça	Lezha
Identified	3195	1195	498	205	127	198	202	40	55	181	64	243	187
EPO	1683	517	370	131	50	120	115	14	14	95	45	147	108
VPO	93	43	11	2	4	9	6	0	2	3	0	6	7
Criminal Acts, according the article   130/a “Domestic Violence”	1146	496	82	59	56	61	72	23	32	70	16	78	56
Arrested	729	321	56	37	33	33	65	14	28	33	10	57	42
Detained	131	57	15	2	6	5	22	1	1	5	4	11	2
Killings	12	5	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0

January – December 2015           Data from State Police Departmens in 12 Counties.
	Total	Tirana	Durrës	Vlora	Shkodra	Berat	Fier	Kukës	Dibër	Elbasan	Gjirokastër	Korça	Lezha
Identified	3866	1306	687	258	143	270	271	56	55	207	86	352	176
EPO	2148	660	546	141	59	178	72	16	16	97	45	231	87
Violating PO	112	57	13	3	4	10	8	1	1	4	2	9	0
Criminal Act, according the article   130/a “Domestic Violence”	1300	456	101	96	62	71	176	24	33	97	29	95	60
Arrested	730	271	47	48	37	44	68	23	22	53	18	59	40
Detained	130	19	12	7	2	8	39	4	5	6	2	13	13
Murder	18	5	1	1	1	0	4	0	1	2	1	1	1

The two tables below present data on DV/GBV in 10 municipalities targeted by the Refleksione project.”.[1]

	Total	Tirane	Vlore	Shkoder	Berat	Lushnje	Puke	Rreshen	Elbasan	Pogradec	Lezhe
Identified
	2119	906	139	157	135	142	41	87	186	216	110
Claim lawsuit for Protection Orders	1239	534	91	74	110	75	31	45	41	177	61

Penal Offenses Killings (domestic violence cases)	2010 No..victims	2011 No..victims	2012 No.victims	2013 No.victims	2014 No.victims
Killings in total            ( Articles.76-83,85 PC)	22	16	20	29	28
Female Victims	14	9	12	15	16
Male Victims	8	7	8	14	12

2.National Legislation on DV/GBV and the IC.

 

The actual national legislation on gender equality and women’s rights and DV/GBV in line with the international standards is an indispensable precondition for the implementation of the IC as the most innovative international Treaty to tackle such a pervasive and consistent issue as violence against women.

Nevertheless of the critical situation presented above in the course of the recentyears Albania has undertaken progressive steps at the local and national levelin the process of improving and completing the regulatory framework for the preventionand elimination of DV/GBV and developing mechanisms to address DV/GBV. In this process a substantial role have played the Albanian Network against Gender Based Violence and Trafficking where Refleksione is a main actor and has a leading role.

One of the mostmajor achievement in improving and completing regulatory framework remains the adoption and effectiveness of the Law No. 9669, “On Measures Against Domestic Violence in Family Relations”, approved in 2006. The law was drafted by a coalition of Albanian NGOs and was submitted to the Parliament as part of a civic initiative, through a petitionthat was signed by 20.000 citizens. It underwent improvements twice, in 2008[2] and 2010[3].  In 2010 the NaGVT strongly advocated for important improvements to this law after conducting professional legal analyses to identify gaps. One of them was it didn’t leave room for NGO contracting for provision of public social services, including services for DV survivors. As a result, the Council of Ministers issued a Guidance "On development of the procurement procedures for the social services" to assist Local Government Units (LGUs) to procure social services from NGOs.  

Following this key law a set of other laws on women human rights were adapted such as the law “On gender equality” that entered into force in July2008  associated with a series of measures for progress in gender equality, such as the setting up of the National Gender Machinery and attention to better   participation of women in political decision; the law “On Free Legal Aid” that became effective in April 2009 which provides free legal aid for the victims of DV/ GBV; the law  “On Protection against Discrimination”entered into force in 2009 and followed by the setting up of the independent body of Commissioner for the Protection against discrimination, which is an independent body that cares and safeguards protection against discrimination; the law “ Social Assistance and Social Services “ that entered into force in 2011. The amendments of the last one in 2014 have brought a very positive change for the empowerment of women position in the society: it gives the right to women to take/receive the social assistance and deprives husbands who as householders took/ received it before the respective law amendment.  Further important progressive steps regarding the women rights, their protection from DV/ GBV present the amendments to the law “On the Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania” in 2012 and 2013. Amid the amendments it is to be mentioned out the amendment that define domestic violence as a criminal offence, criminalizing stalking, forced sexual intercourse without the women consent or offering remuneration for persuasion to prostitution. The data on the tables above present a serious situation regarding DV/ GBV in Albania. A series of factors such as patriarchal mentality, economic situation, women unemployment associated with insufficient responsibility by the state and public institutions, lack of funds by the civil societyorganizations and a reluctant private sector to prevent DV/ GBV, fight it and protect and support its survivors. Meanwhile three Codes , the Penal, Family and Civil ones have to be amended regarding the enforcement of the law and punishment for the abusers in line with the provisions of IC.

A turning point in the addressing the DV/GBV in Albania marks the Council of Ministers’ Decision in 2011 “On the establishment of the national referral mechanism for the treatment of domestic violence’ cases and its way of functioning”. It opened the way for the establishment of the Referral Mechanisms at the local level to address cases of DV/GBV based on the successful model of Coordinated Community Response piloted for the first time in 10 Municipalities by the NaGVT, managed by Refleksione, supported by UN  Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, with two consecutive grants, 2007 -2014 to implement the project “Making it real – Implementing the Law on DV in Albania” and after it the project “Developing a sustainable system to address violence against women in Albania” as continuation of the first one. Both projects played an important role in advancing the implementation of the DV law and the National Strategy on Gender Equality and DV at the local level and establishing the RMs to address violence against women. Inter-disciplinary teams were established in 10 municipalities, with the participation of relevant offices of law enforcement, local government, education, health, employment, judiciary as well as non-governmental organizations. Together, these professionals developed protocols for cooperation and concrete plans of action. The teams jointly managed cases and referred survivors to the most appropriate services. The Network also developed an innovative database that successfully gathers DV statistics and tracks domestic violence cases through every stage of the process. For the first time in Albania, local governments in eight out of ten regions allocated budgets for domestic violence services. Local DV coordinators supported by the project have been integrated into the Municipal structures and are paid by the local government budgets. The model we piloted in 10 municipalities was replicated in 19 additional ones supported by other international donors. Actually the RM in Albania is established in 29 municipalities.  The Government of Albania (GoA) considers a priority on its National Strategy on Gender Equality and DV, 2016 -.2020  the establishment of RMs in 32 remained municipalities out from 61 in total according to the New Administrative and Territorial Reform, which entered into force in 2015.

Meanwhile national by-laws and sublegal acts associated with the responsibility by State Police and Public Health Services to the implementationof the  law “ On measures against domestic violence in family relations” were ratified by  the  Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Ministry of Health (MoH), as well as other rules related to DV/GBV adopted by  the Ministryof Social Welfare and Youth (MSWY), as the leading authority in the implementationof  the DV Law.

To this end, special sectors for addressingdomestic violence have been established, such as the sector on measuresagainst DV in the MSWY; the sector for the protection of minors and DV in the  General Department of State Police,as well as units in each regional Police Department.

3. National Legislation and its implementation

The actual National Legislation on gender equality and women’s rights and against DV/GBV in Albania, represents a significant achievement in the progress of women rights. It is a basis of  fulfilment by Albania as part of the IC. Particularly the law ““On Measures Against Domestic Violence in Family Relations” is an important weapon in the fight against all the forms that DV occurs. Thanks to this law there is more entitlement to protection for the women and the abusers get penalized. During the implementation of the project “ Free from fear of violence - Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level” in 10 target municipalities we experienced situations of weak implementation of relevant legislation on domestic violence by several links of DV/GBV RMs members, particularly those representing judicial system (court institution)  who see participation in RMs meetings and data or information sharing with RMs members and particularly with DV specialist as an extra work rather than a legal obligation affecting quality of case management and information exchange. The situation one year after the project implementation hasn’t substantially changed. According to our local coordinators the lack of knowledge of the legal basis is associated in some cases with the low degree of commitment and seriousness by several mayors due to their political affiliation. The Law on Gender Equality requires the appointment of a gender specialist in each Municipality. There are still some municipalities which have not made adequate provision for setting budget to cover the position of gender specialist.  Citizens in the target areas need to be informed aboutthe legal framework to prevent, combat the DV and support its victims and how to use the provisions of Istanbul Convention to ask and receive protection and support by the local institutions.  It is difficult to happen without the gender specialist in the respective municipalities. This situation is more critical in the municipalities of Puka, Lushnja, Tirana LGU, Nr. 6,  Elbasan and Rreshen.

The baseline research conducted by CEMT, Refleksione partner organization during the process of implementation of the project ”Free from fear of violence - Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level” indicated that the urban and rural communities were not familiar with the National Legislation that provides protection from violence. Many of them were reluctantto believe that the legislation wouldprovide protection for them. They believed that were  alone  in  the  fight  against violence  and  female  respondents declared that they too often felt guilty about their situation. The gathered data demonstrated that citizens in general, and not just victims of DV, have had almost no information about the legislation in force. Even in the cases when they were informed there was a prevailing feeling of lack of trust/confidence.The majority of the victims of domestic violence appeared before a court after having experienced at least once a violation of the law on PO by the abuser/ perpetrator.  When they understand that there is going to be no end to the violence, they usually address the court to file for the divorce. Many other victims have to face thehigh fees of attorneys and courts. Under these circumstances they decided to back down on the divorce and continue to succumb to violence and its consequences for the whole family. According to the baseline survey, the Albanian society (in 10 target Municipalities) except citizens from Lezha and somehow Puka  has  enough information about domestic violence cases because they are informed mostly from the visual media. But there are various obstacles for the violence against women to become an issue of public debate. This stems from the idea of considering it a private issue and being afraid to share information or shame among victimized persons. The so-called “law of silence” in some ways also operates, where everyone knows something but nobody talks on it. The research showed that the sources of information on DV are first the visual media and secondly face to face communication of people within their groups or circles of friends and acquaintances.

4. Information on Istanbul Convention.

.

In the international context the Council of Europe has undertaken a series of initiatives to promote the protection of women against violence since the 1990s. In particular, these initiatives have resulted in the adoption, in 2002, of the Council of Europe Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence, and the running of a Europe-wide campaign, from 2006-2008, to combat violence against women, including DV. The Istanbul Convention and its new provisions, its legal framework and the way how they should be used as a new instrument in combating DV and GBV offer a new perspective globally, regionally and locally. Albania as a member country of CoE, that ratified the IC should encourage its implementation at all levels as in the activities of relevant NGO-s and civil society activists in combating violence. The implementation of  the project “Free from fear of violence- Bringing the Istanbul Convention to the local level” by  Refleksione made possible for the first time that a CSO provide informed and education to all relevant stakeholders on the enhanced commitments to combat GBV and protection for the victims of DV / GBV provided by the IC; strengthened the capacities of all stakeholders at the local level engaged in preventing and combating GBV in light of the enhanced commitments to combat GBV and protections for victims of GBV provided by the Istanbul Convention; raised awareness among local communities on women’s rights as framed by the Istanbul Convention, with particular attention paid to men’s and boys’ engagement in preventing GBV and supporting its victims. 

The baseline research conducted by the project showed that there was critical lack of information and knowledge about the IC by citizens communities, especially women and girls  vulnerable to DV and there was a need for all stakeholders involved in addressing the cases of violence against women to be informed and educated about the Istanbul Convention provisions and be equipped with relevant tools, skills, and procedures that would enable them to make these provisions part of their daily work in preventing and combating GBV. During the project life it was distributed to all members of the RMs and members of the local communities in 10 target municipalities the project’s product, the brochure  “Act to prevent and combat violence against women and girls- Use the Istanbul Convention!” targeted specially to men and boys: During the project implementation it was noticed a high interest to get information about IC from the citizens and civil society groups. The local government institutions in 10 target municipalities and DV/ GBV RMs consider IC more as an additional very useful instrument to prevent and combat the domestic violence than as an outside one proposed and provided by the project. In addition, it was produced a synergy of all stakeholders involved in the project activities including in particular the rural and urban communities of the target Municipalities, public institutions (members of the RMs ), students from the high schools and universities, NGOs, religious leaders ec.

.

5. Media - the best channel to inform on IC.

The implementation of the project “ Free from fear of violence - Bringing Istanbul Convention to the local level” showed again the great possibilities the media posses to reach a wide range of  communities. The public opinion and local communities in 10 targeted Municipalities were largely informed on the previsions of Istanbul Convention and legal measures to prevent and combat DV/GBV through the daily news on the news editions and talk shows on the local TV stations and National ones. Ten daily news were broadcasted on the project activities on the local TV stations in the target Municipalities, eight talk shows were broadcasted in local TVs  and two on National ones: one on Televizioni Shqiptar (TVSH),[4] the only Public TV in Albania and the other one on the TV Vizion + , both with National Coverage, located in the capital, Tirana. The talk shows were focused on the aim the project: improvement of the situation regarding the women right to live a life without violence, information to the public on the national legislation, on the previsions of the Istanbul Convention and the obligation of Albania Central and Local Government to respect them through the IC implementation. In total 30 (thirty) activities were held: 10 ( ten) talk shows on  TV station; 10 ( ten) round tables and 10 (ten) training programs with the participation of DV/ GBV RMs and community members in all target Municipalities. One workshop and one training program were organized in each target municipality with a  total of 495 participants, representing members of RMs and the local administration, police, citizens such as teachers, students from the high schools and universities, representatives  from NGOs that work on gender equity issues and women rights, health care workers, members of theEgyptian and Roma community, who are especially vulnerable to the violence etc. 168 public officials, representatives of DV/GBV RMs participated in the training programs on Istanbul Convention disaggregated by the municipalities and institutions as it is shown on the table below

DV/ GBV Referral system members
	Total	Tirane	Vlore	Shkoder	Berat	Lushnje	Puke	Rreshen	Elbasan	Pogradec	Lezhe
Training Programs Participants
Police department
	12	3		1		3		2	1	1	1
Health Sector	22		5	1	1	3	6	1	1	3	1
Municipality	36	3	4	1	6	6	5	2	2	3	4
Education Sector	39	7		5	3	9	5	4	2	2	2
Judges	0
Lawyer	3			2						1
Prosecutor	1									1
Employment office	10		1		1	2	2	1	1	2
Local NGOs	37	4	5	5	2		5	1	6	3	6

6. Istanbul Convention on Services to DV victims.

Specialized services to prevent violence, to protect and support its victims are the core of IC.  The services are the weakest point of Albania infrastructure to tackle the DV/ GBV in line with IC provisions. The biggest challenge Albania should cope, considering the dimensions of the violence against women in Albania, remain the increasing of service capacities for victims of DV. During the implementation of the project we were informed that in the absence of such services, women , victims of domestic violence are obliged to continue to stay in their homes, at the risk of escalating violence, while others may be discouraged to seek help because they know they cannot get it. According to our local coordinator in Lushnja Municipality the actual critical issue there remains the lack of a Host Centre for the victims of violence, even it could be a transit one it would be great for the victims since in Lushnja there is no in place residential or day care centre to accommodate DV cases.  This is one of the concerns in Lushnja Municipality,  which feels it even more strongly after the information on the obligation of Albania government to respect the previsions of IC regarding the services to victims of violence. 

"Continuing the spirit of the Istanbul Convention to support the DV and GBV cases, Lushnjë Municipality are planning to set up a daily shelter. The municipality of Lushnjë  posses  many assets, many of them are still unused, which could very well be used for a daily centre for the provision of emergency services for victims of violence. The facilities at the municipal offices are too limited to provide quality services” said in 2015 Valbona Myzeqari, DV specialist in the municipality.

Unfortunately the daily centre in Lushnja isn’t yet opened so far. In Berat Municipality in 2015 was needed a functional daily /emergency centre for violated women and girls. One initiative of both, municipality and the local NGO, “For the right protection of rural and urban women and girls” resolve the problem. The municipality offered the premises of the centre which is one of its own unused assets and the local NGO gave its support through capacity building program for the staff who offers services for women, victim of violence. The municipality of Berat projected an appropriate budget for daily centre’s staff and made it operational during last year.

Other missing standards make difficult the respect of IC provisions on the necessary standards to respect them: Crisis Centre 24 hours where the victims of violence; who have an EPO or PO; can be accommodated.

The rural and urban communities in 10 target municipalities complained during the round tables Refleksione had with them in the framework of the project on the lack of adequate premises in the State Police Departments nevertheless Police is the first link of the chain of RMs that deal with the protection of victims of DV. The role of police is very important in the process of identification, denouncement of the abuser and issue of the EPO or PO. A woman victim of violence in Lezha Municipality, said :

“ There is need to enhance the role and capacities of the Police. Recently Policemen are becoming more aware about their role in the DV/GBV aspects, but the problems lays on the justice system. We are looking forward to the Justice Reform. The police mayarrest the abuser, but then the courts set him free. There are also cases when the information we give to the police is leakedto the media. I speak from my experience because I have had to change my telephone numbers after my denouncements in the police.”

The strengthening of the Police role in the RMs is linked with the trained policemen and adequate human resources such as a trained psychologist to assist victims of violence in   dedicated premises for interviewing them. During the project implementation Refleksione experienced cases such as in Vlora Police Department of the lack of an office or whatever premises for the interviews with the victims of violence, where the victims feel free to speak out. Further more during the interviews in Vlora State Police Department with the victims of violence  there is not present a psychologist, employed in Police Department just for the cases of violence. Our local coordinator in Vlora municipality told us usually the Police authorities call a psychologist who isn’t employee in the State Police Department, which mean he/she isn’t trained to support the victims during the interviews. Often the representatives of police who participate in training programs are not exactly those who are appointed and have duty and responsibility to treat the victims of domestic violence or monitor the execution of the EPOs / POs.

The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence clearly states that when preventive measures have failed and violence incidents have happened, it is important that Police address the victims to safe place in shelters or safe houses. The only good news in 2015 was the new emergency shelter opened in September 2015 in Shkodra Municipality that is supporting the victims of violence. But it didn’t change a critical situation in Albania of very limited services to victims of violence.

7. Lessons learned and good practices.

■  The implementation of the Legal framework and International Treaties, like Istanbul Convention, related to measures against DV and GBV becomes effective when human and financial resources are committed by the authorities at central and local level;

■  The training programs and roundtable discussions with representatives of public institutions in ten target municipalities, part of the RMs,  showed that the project “Free from fear of violence - bringing the Istanbul Convention at the local level” provided the information on the IC previsions and contributed to bring again to the focus of the members of the RMs the cooperation among the institutions and coordination of their actions to fulfil their responsibilities in preventing and combating DV and GBV. There is a need to have information and education on IC previsions in 19 other municipalities where the DV/GBV RMs are established;

■ The information and awareness on the Istanbul Convention, its innovative approaches regarding the measures to prevent and combat the violence against women provide new perspective of work with DV/GBV cases specially considering them as penal cases and not as civil ones, as they have been considered so far;

■ Talk Shows broadcasted at the local and National TVs  had a very great echo in all the local communities and viewers of the targeted municipalities and beyond regarding the Istanbul Convention Media coverage of a social wound as violence against women is in Albania contributes in the information and society awareness as a precondition for an active stand of the citizens and their participation toward a societal attitude with “0” tolerance towards the violence;

■ The DV/GBV RMs should be established in 32 Municipalities remained without them especially in the framework of the new Administrative-Territorial Reform, entered into force in 2015, which place under the Municipalities jurisdiction the rural communities that are more vulnerable to DV/ GBV than urban communities and can’t enjoy any service due to the lack of public transportation.

■ The new Administrative-Territorial Reform, entered into force in 2015 has increased the space where municipalities must offer their services and consequently their responsibilities to implement the Istanbul Convention and prevent and combat violence against women. The situation is more difficult in rural areas.

8. Challenges.

■ Local elections of June 21st, 2015 did lead to political rotation in the leadership of municipalities, which quite often is associated with re-organization of municipality personnel chart, staff turnover and loss of capacities. This in particular affected the position of the DV specialists and the coordination of DV/GBV RMs who are in the front line to use  the previsions of Istanbul Convention in their daily work. Staff and structure of some target municipalities are changed recently. There are frequent staff turnover in DV/GBV RMs representative institutions (members of Steering Committees). While the DV specialist in municipalities is consolidating  as a position and function in most of target municipalities , the frequent changes of nominated staff in DV/GBV RMs  trained in addressing domestic violence constitutes a big loss of capacities regarding the quality of cooperation, level of response to case management and coordination with other partners and credibility of the DV/GBV RMs. This happened in Pogradec, and Puka municipalities where the DV specialists are not in place after the new local elections of June 21, 2015. This translates into additional efforts for the DV specialist to re-establish contacts with the newly appointed staff, provide training and introducing them to GBV Referral system’s model of cooperation and partnership. To successfully face this challenge there are needed resources, and political will;

■ Weak implementation of relevant legislation on DV/ GBV by several “links” of DV/GBV RMs members particularly representing judicial system (court institution)  which consider the participation in RMs meetings and data or information sharing with GBV RM members and particularly with the DV specialist as an extra work rather a legal obligation affecting quality of case management and information exchange. There are reported cases when police mediates reported cases of domestic violence and considers them “petty offence”. There are reported cases dismissed by the court due to lack of proper documentation by police (missing information on contacts or ID details, lack of medical report) or slow execution of EPOs/POs due to weak cooperation between police, bailiff’s  office and social services directorate;

■ Lack of financial resources to provide for an extensive and comprehensive specialized support services for survivors of domestic violence ranging from emergency support and emergency centers/shelters on site, specialized legal and psycho-social counselling on site, counselling for perpetrators and children as witnesses of domestic violence, transportation to safe accommodation, long-term rehabilitation services including psycho-emotional support, vocational training, employment programs and opportunities to ensure victims’ economic independence and strengthening. The establishment of the specialized support services could pave the way for Albania to implement the Istanbul Convention.

9. Recommandations.

■ The municipalities must make provisions in their budgets to support victims of DV/ GBV with payment for cases where the EPO granted it and this is in line with Istanbul Convention and should not affect the removal of social assistance payment

■ The police as the first link of the chain of RMs should receive continuous training program about the treatment of victims. Often the representatives of police who participate in training programs are not exactly those who are appointed  and have duty and responsibility to treat the victim of domestic violence or monitor the execution of the PO. It is also important that the policemen who work in the field and deal directly with the DV cases should be trained about the protocol of the Victim’s Protection.

■ Appointment of the psychologist at each county Police Department. In addition to that an improved logistics in the process of interviewing the victim should be offered. In general there are no special facilities to conduct interviews with victims which is not in line with the standards set by the Istanbul Convention.

■ A range of network of services needs to be provided on site to survivors of DV/ GBV and coordination and cooperation with various actors including specialized NPOs  is indispensable. Refleksione experience in 10 target municipalities where limited services are provided on site shows that there is lacking an evidence-based strategic approach at local level on addressing domestic violence (lack of emergency shelters, 24 hours phone line, multidisciplinary services, counselling services for perpetrators, medium and long-term rehabilitation services to integrate survivors in mainstream society, lack of standards and protocols).

■ Improvement of data collection on domestic violence cases and on-line reporting on case management at local level and national level through better cooperation among GBV/RMs members in timely feeding information in the web-based integrated system allowing for more effective monitoring. There is the need to strengthen the capacities in using the web-based data system as well as in building in the system specific features that will enable the tracking of the EPO/PO decisions and therefore, consequently ensure effective monitoring in practice.

■ A national awareness campaign on Istanbul Convention previsions and the obligation of the Government to meet the standards of specialized services for victims of violence is strogly recommended.