Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
"It was a girl, that's why the mother was forced to abort her", - begins the story for "Sinjalizo", Ilda, who tells how a few years ago the mother, faced with the psychological pressure of family members, was forced to perform an abortion immediately after learning the gender of the fetus.
"I took the child to the state hospital",- Luljeta, a resident of Divjakë, then asserts, adding,- "no committee of doctors was convened to see whether or not I could carry the child". She admits that the abortion of the female fetus cost her about 150 thousand old lek "enabled the continuity of the marriage".
This is just one of the cases of sex-selective abortion in the country, although selective abortion is still illegal and punishable by law. Through the official response to the request for information, the Institute of Public Health admits to "Signal" that "there is no data on abortions performed according to gender (male/female) or selective abortions”, underlining the fact that “selective abortions are considered illegal".
According to data made public by the Institute of Public Health, only in 2021, 100 voluntary and legal abortions were registered among women aged 15-24. Meanwhile, for the same year, for the 15-49 age group, 1000% abortions were registered for 22,9 births. In other words, for every 1000 births, 230 legal abortions were registered.
The natural boy-girl ratio has been broken for years
Elida Nuri, Advocacy and Communication analyst at UNFPA in Albania, tells "Sinjalizo" that according to a study by CONDUCTED of them, based on official figures collected by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and INSTAT, it turns out that 109 boys are born per year against 100 girls.
"What is observed globally, regionally and at the country level is what we call the 'harmful practice of gender-based violence.' So, the phenomenon of 'gender based sex selection' exists in Albania", - says Nuri.
"Official statistics are collected by the Ministry and INSTAT, what we did was to analyze official population data for the last two decades by two demographers. The very figure published by INSTAT that 109 boys are born per 100 girls is very high, it shouldn't be, because demographers all over the world say that the average can be 103,104, 105, 100 boys for XNUMX girls", - says Nuri, underlining that in the case of our country "this report is passed and there is something wrong. There is something artificial that they have put in intentionally or not. This people has something that is disrupting this balance", - she concludes.
Demographer Arjan Gjoncaj, participant in the UNFPA study, tells "Sinjalizo" that the phenomenon of imbalance in the natural ratio of boys and girls has been going on for years.
"From INSTAT data in 2017 this ratio was 111 boys for 100 girls, and in 2021 it was 108 to 100. So, the phenomenon continues", he concludes.
According to data published by UNFPA last year, during the last ten years, Albania lacks 21 girls aged 1-19, while our country ranks 11th in the world in terms of termination of pregnancy due to gender. the fetus.
Meanwhile, according to the study of "Together for Life", the surveyed doctors admitted that: "when it comes to making the decision on elective abortion, in most cases (59% have confirmed this) the man decides. Only 26% said that it is the woman who decides on selective abortion. And recently, 15% of them have highlighted another truth: it is the couple's relatives who make the decision on the abortion".
According to the sociologist Gëzim Tushi "this phenomenon is a sensational display of male masculinity over women considering them as a burden to the family". "Selective abortion is an expression of the cultural defect that is still strong in Albania and that has its basis, the 'inspiration' in the existence of norms that keep alive 'gender inequality'", -he says.
Gynecologists: Exact statistics are lacking
For gynecologist Rustem Celami, the problem lies in educating society that abortion is a legal right up to the twelfth week.
"It's not the clinic or the hospital's abortion problem, in my opinion, but the information, the education of the population that still does not know that abortion is a legal right of a woman until the 12th week in our country", says Celmani, adding that the law on abortion has been completed in the country since 1995.and it needs a review because it's been a few decades and needs updating".
The obstetrician-gynecologist, Ilta Bylykbashi, says that up to the 7th week of pregnancy, abortion is generally carried out with medication.
"Medical abortion mimics a menstrual cycle, but of course it is accompanied by more pain and bleeding and lasts a little longer.", she explains, adding that after the seventh week, the cleaning method is used to perform the abortion.
"Intervention that has effects on reproductive health, because the greater the age of the burden, there is a risk of either bleeding during cleaning, or the curette, which is an instrument that provides cleaning, can cause what are called 'syneki', or 'adhesion', that women may have difficulties in becoming pregnant", -explains Bylykbashki.
Celami adds that the lack of functional registers for abortion and diseases affects the lack of accurate statistics.
"We do not have a functional registry for abortion and for all diseases. So we don't have a real record of medical problems. This means that we do not have accurate statistics, accurate assessments, and consequently we do not even have accurate health policies because they are not based on real data, even the investments that are made", he concludes.
Meanwhile, Bylykbashki says to "Signalizo" that "gender-based abortions are heading towards extinction".
"It is something that we, obstetricians, as colleagues, have discussed a lot from practice, experience. Gone is the mentality 'we love the boy no matter what'. Undoubtedly, the boy remains referential among the Albanian population, but I notice that there is a lot of positive feedback, the feeling when I say: girl",- says Bylykbashi.
According to the sociologist Tushi, it is necessary to separate the abortion performed for health reasons or not.
"Abortion that is performed for health reasons (the life of the woman or the health status of the fetus) must be separated from selective abortion that is performed for social reasons or the dictated gender identity of the female child", - he says, affirming that "this phenomenon occurs more and more often in poor families with many children".
Sociologists: What are the consequences of the lack of girls?
"The consequences of this criminal action are numerous and dramatic, with psychological, demographic and social effects. The overpopulation with men disrupts the sexual balance and complicates the relationships of sexuality", - says sociologist Tushi, according to whom "in the absence of the natural and organic quantity of women, society must find alternative forms to satisfy male sexual needs".
"It must be accompanied by the emergence of the phenomena of polygamy, polyandry and the need for public institutions of sexuality. This maybe until the necessary legalization of prostitution (offering paid sex)".- he continues, stressing that this type of 'deficit' "may affect the expansion of violence, sexual crime and trafficking of women for prostitution purposes".
What are the possible solutions?
Sociologist Gëzim Tushi emphasizes that it is necessary to educate society and strengthen legal measures regarding gender-based abortion. "Cultural, educational and emancipatory intervention is needed, on the one hand, but also the strengthening of the state's legal measures", he says, while for Elida Nuri at a time when "infertility has increased and young couples are barely having a child” the approach to the visible part of society's influence should be changed.
"This is seen in culture, in music, in popular expressions, because it comes naturally to you: Go with a boy! Or like the popular song 'Next time with a boy'. What does this mean? It's very beautiful, but what's inside? Is it a stereotype? A thing struck for centuries? Is it fair nowadays? No, that's not right",- concludes Nuri.
