Launching of the Report “Gender-Based Discrimination and Labour in Albania” (Second Edition)

Tirana, March 15, 2022 - The "Gender Alliance for Development" Center, in close cooperation with the European Union in Albania and the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, officially promoted the second edition of the report which focuses on gender-based discrimination in the workplace, in Albania.

Click here to watch the full event.

The report is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Click here to read the report in Albanian.

Click here to read the report in English.

The report aims to raise the awareness of the relevant institutions, the media and the general public regarding the current situation of gender-based discrimination in Albania. The report also aims to increase the awareness of citizens to report gender-based discrimination, which appears in various forms, including sexual harassment in the workplace. The report provides recommendations for addressing gender-based discrimination.

Some of the key findings of the research include:

• Slightly more women (20%) than men (18%) who responded to the questionnaire report that they have experienced discrimination at work.

• Most of those who have experienced gender-based discrimination have not reported it to an institution (72%). While this percentage remains high, it is still lower than the 97% of respondents who had not reportet their case of discrimination in the 2018 survey.

• Slightly more women than men in the 2021 sample report that they have experienced discrimination at work (20%) compared to 2018 (18%). Meanwhile, significantly more men report having experienced discrimination in the 2021 survey (18%), compared to 2018 (6%).

• Nearly 70% of those who have experienced gender-based discrimination have not reported it to any institution. While this figure remains high, it is still lower than the 97% of women and 100% of men who reported in 2018 that they had not reported their case to any institution.

• Slightly more than 70% of respondents agree that gender-based discrimination is illegal in Albania. Although slightly more men than women thought that gender-based discrimination is punishable by law, the difference is not significant.

• More women than men report that they have faced discriminatory questions in job interviews, such as questions about plans to get married (45% of women had faced this question, compared to 35% of men) or plans to have children (where 23% of women had faced this question compared to 12% of men).

• 23% of respondents have faced at least one form of sexual harassment at work, but there are no significant differences between genders.

• More women (29%) than men (19%) said they do not have an employment contract.

• 16% of study participants who have worked for a time in the last three years or are currently employed have been asked to sign an employment contract without being allowed to read and understand the terms of the contract, at least once.