In a space that once belonged to dictator Enver Hoxha, girls and women from the Roma, Egyptian, LGBT, and disabled communities shared their stories of violence, survival, and resistance.
The dictator's villa, once a symbol of fear and absolute power, was transformed for one day, Friday, into a storytelling space for the stories of women's struggle for a life accepted and treated with dignity.
They initially gathered in the dictator's former private cinema, where the documentary produced by Citizens.al was shown: "The Roots of Resistance", a documentary that reflects the feminist movement in Albania after the '90s and the efforts to challenge patriarchy for a better future.
Stories that break the silence
Romina Sefa, director of the Center for Social Advocacy, also one of the organizers of the event, underlined the necessity of a safe space where girls and women can speak freely about their concerns and difficulties.
"Despite the challenges, we have succeeded," she said, remembering that this should be the main message in the discussions.
The ice was broken by Doliana Velia, a visually impaired woman who spoke about life with a sense missing from birth and social prejudice.
She emphasized that mentality and lack of infrastructure limit the independence of people with disabilities much more than the ability itself.
"Being born with a sense that doesn't exist is like asking you, do you miss flying? No, you don't, it just seems funny to you because you haven't tried it." Doliana paralleled.
According to her, her parents' trust in treating her as a person no different from others has helped her become the independent woman she is today.
"We should not accept mercy from anyone, let us belong to a certain community, let us have a physical or sensory difference, we should live with dignity."", Doliana shared with the other girls and women.
She emphasized that mentality and lack of infrastructure limit the independence of people with disabilities much more than the ability itself.
"Let's break down the structures. First in our own minds and then in those around us."", emphasized Doliana, according to whom being a woman with a disability in Albania is a double challenge.
Doliana shared cases where women with disabilities remain isolated, unprotected and often unable to report the violence they suffer.
For this, she told of cases where, due to the low pay they receive, the personal assistant ends up being a family member, and at the same time a violent person.
"Due to physical limitations, he cannot even go to report the case. There are people who are deprived of even this kind of freedom," Doliana emphasized.
One such case was that of a girl raped by her mother, who was also the legal guardian.
"We called the police because they had also taken his phone away, and when the police came to him, they said: 'Aren't you ashamed that these people are supporting you and you're embarrassing them?'", she confessed, highlighting the institutional failure.
From the lost home to the first venture
Vjollca, a Roma woman, spoke about the violence and structural injustice that left her homeless, without support, and without access to state services and support. Her story also showed the extraordinary strength that a Roma woman has to succeed in the Albanian reality.
Faced with the loss of her husband, with two children, she experienced violence from his relatives, who intended to throw her out of the house. This happened when she encountered the request: "For 15 days, vacate the house!"
For a year, Vjollca did not even receive economic assistance because, as she said, she was ashamed to sign since she did not know how to read and write.
This prompted her to educate her children, removing them from the cycle of shame and poverty.
"I don't want my children to be ashamed in the future, so I sent them to school. Today I have two educated children," she said proudly.
After three years of legal proceedings, Vjollca managed to secure a room in the house where she lived with her husband.
“When I won [the case] they started calling me 'gabele' because the man's people are not Roma,” she recounted another discriminatory aspect of her story.
A bag of used clothes, given to her to sell, thrust Vjollca into the informal labor market. Despite this, she managed to build a household economy sufficient to educate her children.
"I only have the last three years of insurance," she said, emphasizing that this was made possible thanks to support from social programs.
Women who challenge violence
Elisabeta shared with those present the ordeal she had to go through as a grandmother to save her daughter and granddaughter from a cycle of violence perpetrated by her son-in-law.
Married abroad, the girl was isolated and repeatedly raped. Uneducated, she was forced to fight against a system that had made her a "legal property" father's.
But, with continued persistence, Elisabeta's daughter managed to notify the police, found shelter while she closed all the documents to restore security and legal ownership over her granddaughter.
Like Elisabeta, Miranda shared a difficult life story: a violent marriage and an alcoholic husband, who had created an unsafe environment for their daughter.
"An excellent student" she showed, "who, even through the traumas she was going through, found time to study."
This meeting, held during the "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence," brought about a symbolic act of restoration: silenced voices, stories left aside, unheard pain, in the light of a villa that once would never invite them and that for decades has symbolized power, fear, and privilege.
Watch Citizens.al documentaries:
- "Roots of Resistance", a documentary about the feminist movement in Albania
- "Traces of Pain" a documentary about the cycle of gender-based violence
- "In the web of fear" a documentary about digital violence
Erisa Kryeziu has completed higher studies in Journalism and Communication and Master of Science in Public Relations at the University of Tirana. She has been a journalist and project manager at Citizens.al for five years, where she reports on social issues and human rights, especially on issues of rights at work, in education, gender equality, marginalized groups, people with disabilities such as and for environmental issues. At the same time, she works as a project coordinator with a focus on youth and media education. User of new reporting techniques such as "Mobile Journalism" and citizen engagement tools in reporting (ECR-Engage Citizens Journalism).
