The Albanian National Child Rights Network officially askes the Parliament urgent adoption of amendments to the Criminal Code
Tirana, 30 May 2018 – The Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs of the Albanian Parliament held this morning an urgent hearing session based on a request from civil society organizations to discuss the protection of children and young people from the sexual violence and sexual predators in Albania.
In its first public presentation, the Albanian National Child Rights Network: ACT FOR CHILDREN!, presented today the official request for the urgent adoption of legal changes to the Albanian Criminal Code related to protection from sexual violence, pornography, grooming and online exploitation!
Reports from the Nation Platform www.ISIGURT.al, show that there are 150 cases of sexual harassment against children and young people in social networks, of which: 51 are exposure to sexual content, 74 cyber bulling cases, 13 phone bullying, 8 cases of offensive messages, and 4 cases of child pornography on the Internet.
“Sexual predators do not wait for us to act! They are looking for their next victim! Right at this moment a child is being bullied or sexually abused, while the law does not provide proper protection from sexual violence online or offline.” – said Altin Hazizaj, Director of CRCA, on behalf of the “Act for Children!”
ACT FOR CHILDREN! comes as an initiative of Children Rights Center in Albania (CRCA), in collaboration with National Child Helpline (ALO 116), ECPAT Albania, Albanian Coalition for Education (ACE), Center “Children Today” and the Albanian National Youth Network (ANYN).
The network will address some of the most serious and continuous violation of children in Albania. It will take joint actions on advocating for the respect and protection of children rights through improvement of legislation and public policies, information, local and national services, research and monitoring of the situation of the children. The preparation of policy and alternative reports will be another priority to improve the situation of child rights in Albania.
