Aksion Plus, SWAN member from Albania, is preparing a Round Table with some of the main actors in the field of human rights (both governmental and non-governmental) focusing on sex work in Albania. More

Aksion Plus, SWAN Member from Albania, signed in April a contract with UNICEF for the implementation of the project “Harm Reduction Among Sex Workers in Albania”.

COUNTRY IN FOCUS: ALBANIA

Sex Work in Albania - an Overview

Sex Work is illegal in Albania. The Penal Code anticipates a punishment varying from a simple fine up to three years of detention for persons practicing commercial sex.

Excerpt from a study made by the Albanian Institute for Public Health and Aksion Plus, SWAN Member from Albania, on sex work situation in this South-East European country. Edited by SWAN News

Sex work is a relatively new phenomenon in Albania, dating from the early nineties. According to some reports from Albanian police and juridical system, almost 70% of female sex workers in and from this country have been dragged into the business forcibly and/or by fraud, through marriages “for a better life” abroad. Trafficked are usually girls from rural areas, from families with very difficult financial situation. Trafficking is managed by organized crime syndicates whose interests are spread across Europe. Although the fight of the state against human trafficking has been more effective in the recent years, partly due to the better international cooperation with the specialized bodies in the receiving countries, human trafficking for sex work is still considered the most “lucrative” crime, and Albania became one of the traffic routes from ex Soviet Union countries towards Western Europe.

Not all sex workers are trafficked. Sex work is a free choice of those sex workers who engage in the business as a result of the very difficult economical situation in the country. More

This article is taken from the website of the Media Diversity Institute, www.media-diversity.org  
The easiest way to get rid of the human suffering inherent in sex trafficking is to recognize the world's oldest profession and legalize it, according to some Albanian legal authorities.
In one American state, Nevada, the home of Las Vegas, prostitution is legal in state inspected brothels. Amsterdam has long been known for its Red Light district featuring the famous girls in the picture windows displaying their bodies for sale.

Could legalization work in Albania…again? More