Thousands of citizens and civil society activists demonstrated in Tirana last Thursday after a 15-year-old girl suffered sexual abuse by staff at her school. Protestors demanded more severe punishments for sex offenders and a more active role for the school and state in preventing and managing these cases. The case shocked and outraged the public as the girl appears to have been blackmailed for months, and the community did not help her, although they were aware of the situation.
The protest on 4 June was a spontaneous reaction from a large number of citizens. Many human rights activists expressed their surprise at such an enormous outpouring of support. They asked the state to take measures to protect children from abuse, demanded the Ministry of Education increase standards and procedures in educating and protecting children, and called for the change and emancipation of the Albanian patriarchate mentality, which continues to victimize and punish the victim instead of the perpetrator.
Parallel to this, an online petition with 30,000 signatures was initiated to ask the state to make the sex offenders register public in the hopes of reducing the number of these cases, and as a moral and human punishment for offenders. These actions are considered a great step toward advocating for Albanians – one that could bring institutional and social change to the country.
- A hozzászóláshoz regisztráció és bejelentkezés szükséges
- 68 megtekintés
