Human Rights Legislation in Albania: the case of human trafficking

ABSTRACT

Albania has been one of the key origin and transit Eastern European countries to traffic with persons. More than 5000 Albanian women have been victims of trafficking in the past decade. The Albanian Government's judiciary has been inefficient, corrupt, and the pressure on the judiciary continues to be a serious problem. The purpose of this paper is to examine Albanian legislation by drawing parallels between Albanian and international legislation in trafficking with persons. More specifically, this paper addresses the problem and the legal context, problems with current enforcement of legislation in Albania, and the role of civil society in combating human trafficking. The prevailing forms of human trafficking in Albania, criminalization and rights of victims, and connotations when victims are female, foreign and/or minors are also noted. The paper concludes by making recommendations from the Albanian Strategic Framework with a focus in human trafficking victims.

KEYWORDS:

• Human trafficking
• human rights
• legislation
• Albania

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Albina Balidemaj is a lecturer of Psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Kosovo, School of Individualized Studies. Her research interests include mental health and immigration, human rights, community studies, NGOs, and public opinion. Her research has been published in Journal of Culture and Mental Health, Social Service Research, European Journal of Public Health, International Advisory Board, etc.

ORCID

Albina Balidemaj http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2022-2420

Notes

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