Albanian women who fall prey to sexual harassment in the workplace choose to remain silent or resign instead of denouncing the perpetrators, due to a lack of faith in justice and fear of prejudice.
Author: Elira Kadriu Citizens.al | Tirana
Eleonora* was 26 years old and a young economist in a construction company in Tirana when she first faced sexual harassment in the workplace. The author of the harassment was her 73-year-old boss.
"In addition to the compliments, he began to behave inappropriately. Every time I passed by, he found a reason to make physical contact. Then he started closing the window, locking the office with a key to create the most intimate environment possible," recalls Eleonora, requesting that her name remain anonymous.
At that time, Eleonora was married with two children, a fact known even by her boss. After a difficult two-month psychological period, Eleonora was forced to resign.
"I didn't even go to the office to leave work, because I was afraid. I communicated the decision in coffee, and as far as I could see, it was expected from him," she added.
Eleonora chose not to report the case because, as she told Citizens Channel, she felt some sort of obligation to the person who referred her to the job. But if she could go back in time, she says she should have reported him.
"I wish I had denounced him, because such people deserve to learn a lesson so that he does not repeat it with other employees," she says.
The Albanian Penal Code defines sexual harassment as the conduct of behaviors of a sexual nature, which violate the dignity of the person, by any means or form, creating a threatening, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment - this is a criminal offense punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison.
But regardless of legal provisions, most women who face sexual harassment in the workplace choose to remain silent and not report.
Merita Poni, lecturer at the University of Tirana and author of the national study "Sexual harassment in the workplace" from the organization "Together for life" told Citizens that women and girls are afraid to report sexual harassment for fear of double victimization.
"They do not report because they are afraid that they will be victimized more for what happened to them than the bully, moreover, the victims do not believe that they will receive justice through complaints or denunciations,” said Pony.
Fear of reporting
According to the national study "Sexual harassment in the workplace" by the organization "Together for life", about 60% of respondents consider sexual harassment in the workplace as a serious concern. About 11% of the respondents say that in the last two years they have experienced sexual harassment at the workplace, while 19% have experienced it during their entire lives. But despite the prevalence of the phenomenon, the study emphasizes the low level of denunciations.
The study states that 80% of victims of sexual harassment in the workplace have not filed a complaint for reasons listed by them as: they are ashamed to report, they do not believe that they will find a solution, they are afraid of prejudices and eavesdropping, etc.
Through a questionnaire published online, Citizens Channel contacted dozens of women who shared details of their stories of sexual harassment, but none of them had reported the case.
Over 50% of the respondents said that they had chosen not to report, as they did not trust the justice system; 25% simply resigned, while 10% attributed the lack of reporting to the fear of losing their job.
As for the form of harassment, most said they had received messages, compliments or excessive words, while a smaller group said they had faced emotional and psychological abuse or unwanted physical touches. In only 1 case, the request for sexual favors had been direct.
Citizens sent a request to the State Police, which confirmed that it processes statistical data for the criminal offense "Sexual Harassment", provided for by Article 108/ai Penal Code, but does not have its subdivisions, that is, specifically for sexual harassment in the country of work. Asked again about the total number of sexual harassments, the Press Office of the State Police delayed providing information despite promising to forward the figures within the day.
For issues of inequality, discrimination and violation of human rights, employees can turn to two national institutions: the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination (KMD) and the Ombudsman (OP).
During the first four months of 2024, the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, KMD, has participated in seven judicial processes of the nature of sexual harassment, where in all cases the plaintiffs were women.
In six of the cases, the KMD was called as a third party, in trials where the finding of discrimination was requested directly in court and compensation for the perceived discrimination, while in 1 case, the KMD participated as a defendant, because the annulment was requested of the non-discrimination decision of the KMD by the complainant.
"Complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace are still at a low level. Although there is a deeper knowledge of the law to report such cases, often this reporting does not happen immediately, but is delayed and there is often a lack of evidence due to the complainant's delayed reporting time," says Bruna Menalla, coordinator at the office of the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination.
Representatives of the People's Advocate said that they only handle cases of sexual harassment in the public administration and not the private sector. To raise awareness of this issue, this institution has published a orientation manual for the Albanian public administration.
*Name has been changed to protect the woman's identity.
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
