- Title: App to fight domestic abuse developed by teen girls launches in Albania
- Date: 11th October 2019
- Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) HANDS OF VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) UNIDENTIFIED VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SAYING: "I was psychologically abused all the time, they were abusing me (members of ex-husband' family), then my ex-husband started to abuse me both psychologically and physically. We have a child and at the moment we've separated the child was only five months old. I lived there under psychologically and physically abuse for eight months." TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) TIRANA RESIDENT, JUNI (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Yes, I've heard about this application "GjejZa" before. I think that it is a valuable application and it can help anybody that needs it. I will download it soon." (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) JONA (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING: "I have heard about this application. I think it is helpful in what it was made for, which is reporting the domestic violence. I believe that technological advancements can help and make this process simpler which is not simple for the victims." VARIOUS OF STREET SCENES TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERIOR, ROVENA KUKO, SAYING: "I will be very happy to see the application running up and we will also be very happy using the deliveries of the application to decrease the number of domestic violence cases in the country." TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) BANNER SHOWING PHONE NUMBER OF ALBANIAN NATIONAL HOT LINE HOT LINE WORKER PICKING UP PHONE WORKER TALKING ON PHONE AND TAKING NOTES WORKER TALKING ON PHONE HAND WRITING ON PAPER SHOWS: TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND LAWYER, BRIZIDA GJIKONDI, SAYING: "It happened to me to see and help in many such cases (domestic violence). My last case was a former student of mine, she was victim of the domestic violence. I've escorted her to the police and to the safe house for abused women. To be honest I've seen that none of it works, the person that received her complaint in the police could be a potential abuser himself." TIRANA, ALBANIA (SEPTEMBER 25, 2019) (REUTERS) ROZHANI AND SHUKARASI SITTING AT STEPS NEAR ALBANIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM VARIOUS OF ROZHANI AND SHUKARASI COMPARING NOTES
- Embargoed: 25th October 2019 19:13
- Keywords: helpline girls in tech applications domestic violence violence against women women in tech domestic abuse Albania young developers
- Location: TIRANA, ALBANIA AND ANIMATION
- City: TIRANA, ALBANIA AND ANIMATION
- Country: Albania
- Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA009B0NL7I1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: FACE OF ONE SPEAKER IN THIS EDIT WAS BLURRED FOR SECURITY REASONS
An app aimed to help victims of domestic violence access support in Albania became available to users on Friday (October 11). The app was developed by three 16-year-old girls and is expected to help tackle a huge problem in the country, where one in two women suffered abuse last year, according to a survey.
The app is named GjejZâ, (Find your Voice). The teenagers behind it won an international technology competition for girls in the United States.
"Violence against women is a huge issue in Albania and it also affects us as teenage girls because we see the early stages of this even in our peers, in our friends," said Jonada Shukarasi, one of the developers.
One in two women suffers violence in Albania, said Iris Luarasi, the head of a national hotline for abused women, citing a 2018 survey, and 4,000 cases were reported in 2018.
A new report by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) found almost 9 in 10 women consider violence against women to be common in Albania, and that 97% of victims of intimate in-house violence never report it to the police.
Known as the D3c0ders, the girls - Arla Hoxha, Dea Rrozhani and Jonada Shukarasi - learned how to code and create applications four years ago through an outreach program run by the U.S. Embassy in Tirana.
News of their award in the Technovation Challenge competition has stoked national pride in Albania, an ex-communist country that is now a NATO member endeavouring to join the European Union.
The girls have received widespread coverage and congratulations from senior government officials.
This year's competition required participants to build an app that tackled social problems, so the girls decided to focus on gender-based violence. They worked with psychologists, a deputy interior minister and women's issues experts.
Users answer a series of questions which helps them identify if they are victims of domestic violence, and the app offers them testimonies from women who have escaped abuse and encouragement to report it.
The scope of the app is huge - it provides breathing exercises to help women, connects them to state officials in every town who can help them secure restraining orders and access benefits. It also advises on employment opportunities and shelters.
Women can download the app, and get in touch with the police and support groups by phone or instant messaging. Mobile phone ownership is high in Albania - a population of 2.8 million uses 4.63 million mobile phones.
Romina Kuko, Albania's deputy interior minister, regretted the number of attacks remained high, but added Albania was fighting domestic violence with full force.
(Production: Bardh Krasniqi, Florion Goga) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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