Violence Against Women and Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence by the Republic of Albania

Nowadays, violence against women knows no boundaries. Every day, around the world, one out of three women, according to the statistics, is violated. Violence against women (and girls) is a human rights violation occurring globally. It includes rape, domestic violence, women being beaten and killed by their husband, women victims of human trafficking and more. The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” Violence against women has several forms of manifestation, out of which the ones that are mostly encountered by are violence exerted by the partner/husband/spouse and sexual violence. Historically, violence against women is a manifestation of unequal relations between women and men, which have led to domination over, and discrimination against, women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women. Women and girls are often exposed to serious forms of violence such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, forced marriage, crimes committed in the name of so‐called “Honour” and genital mutilation, which constitute a serious violation of the human rights, especially of women and girls. This is an obstacle to the achievement of equality between women and men. Keywords: convention, prevention, violence, woman, child, measures against violence, Criminal Law/Code, criminal sentences (convictions), ratification, etc.