Women's groups: The Albanian case

Abstract

The collapse in 1990 of the totalitarian regime, which kept Albanian society under tight control for 45 years, has been followed by deep political and social changes, including the formation and strengthening of women's organizations and movements. Responding to the particular needs of women, which are largely overlooked by policymakers and absent from public debate, Albanian women's non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) have expanded their activities to address women's social, legal and health issues in both urban and rural areas. There are complex processes involved in building a women's movement from scratch, developing alliances among women's groups and with other sectors of society, while grappling with a series of obstacles that range from low awareness of women's rights to the lack of recognition by government authorities of the efforts and the range of roles played by women's groups.