Cases of domestic violence increase in Albania during the Covid-19 pandemic

 Isolation during the pandemic increased the number of cases of domestic violence in Albania. The growing trend of the negative phenomenon continued in the first 6 months of this year.

According to data from the State Police, in the January-June period, 683 cases of domestic violence were reported, 169 more than in the same period a year ago.

But are these just the quarantine effects? According to psychologist Arjana Muçaj, “these are effects that come in continuation of the problems we have had, the quarantine simply deepened them more and made them more visible. "It has been noticed that children and the elderly were also vulnerable groups, because the quarantine brought them together."

Domestic violence continues to be considered a private, family matter, and as a normal part of married life and thus in many cases is not denounced.

 "Violence must always be spoken, shown and denounced", underlines Muçaj.

In the period 2016-2020, according to data from the State Police, 20,609 cases of domestic violence have been reported, while the courts have issued 13,489 protection orders. As a result of the violence, 7,816 people were injured and 76 lost their lives, most of them women.