Democratic MP, Oriola Pampuri was invited on Euronews Albania’s panel show ‘NOW’ to talk about domestic violence and other forms of abuse suffered by women in Albania.
Giving her take on the issue, Pampuri argued that protests against such phenomena serve to raise awareness but much more needs to be done by government authorities in order to prevent these tragic events from continuing to happen.
In addition, Pampuri commented on Wednesday’s protest that was organized in Tirana, in the name of Sabrina Bengaj, who was murdered by her ex-husband.
“Whenever I see cases of this nature, I react. This time, I refused to put up her photo on my Facebook or Instagram page, because I thought to myself – how powerless we could actually be in these situations. As a mother, as a woman, a sister, I feel very disheartened, when faced with these incidents. Protests raise awareness but we need the support of the state,” – said Pampuri.
Pampuri brought up the fact that as a psychologist she has come into contact with many women and girls that suffer abuse and feel threatened even when they have a restraining order, adding that the system, the courts, police, simply don’t give women the amount of help they really need.
’16 women have been murdered in 9 months, this is a toll of war’
The rise in domestic violence cases has raised the alarm for law enforcement agencies and society in general. This worrisome phenomenon is a reoccurring topic of discussion in Albania and keeps on making the headlines time and again.
Activist, Zhaklin Lekatari gave her take on tonight’s ‘NOW’ arguing that the murder of 16 women in 9 months should be considered a national state of emergency. According to her, Albanian women get murdered because of their gender and this threatens our society’s values.
“This index is a war index and to me, it looks like a national state of emergency. 9 months, 16 women, this isn’t a war,” – said Lekatari.
Lekatari called for more obedience to the laws and stricter sentences for culprits while holding accountable the judges, prosecutors and police officers, who according to her are responsible for the rise of crime within Albanian families.
“In this country, we need to protest every day and every hour… Prosectors are also murders, and judges and police officers, who don’t take these matters seriously,” – she added.
‘All of society is to blame for the murder of women’
Professor Iris Luarasi gave her take on the murder of 23-year-old, Sabrina Bega, by saying that not only is this a common phenomenon in Albania, but that the entire society should be held responsible.
“This doesn’t only concern the families where the tragedy takes place. All of society has failed,” – said Luarasi.
In addition, Luarasi said that Sabrina, was 13 years old when she went to live with her ex-husband, who was 21 at the time.
According to the social sciences professor, society, starting from the two respective families, should have intervened and not have let this marriage between a minor and a 21-year-old to even happen.
“There are many layers to this and each layer has its own fault and plays its own role,” – continued Luarasi.
