Albania’s parliament passes landmark gender equality law

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

November 14, 2025

HRRC applauds the passage of Albania’s gender equality law as an important step on the path to equal rights for women in the country. We encourage Albanian lawmakers, with the support of European Union (EU) officials, to continue to work to address ongoing challenges of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and violence against women as part of Albania’s path to EU integration. 

[Image credit: Malton Dibra/LSA]

The Parliament of Albania passed a landmark gender equality law on Friday, November 7, bringing the country one step closer to meeting the benchmarks on gender equality and anti-discrimination required to join the European Union (EU). 

77 members of the 140 person chamber voted on Friday to approve the law. Among other provisions, the law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity or sexual characteristics, introduces quotas that requires women to hold 30 to 50 percent of positions in government bodies such as parliament, the diplomatic service, and the police, and puts the burden of proof of gender-based violence on the offender rather than the victim. 

Not all inclusive aspects initially intended to be featured in the law made it through the amendment process. The law explicitly defines only two genders, and lawmakers rejected the inclusion of terms such as “gender diversity,” “gender identity,” and “gender expression,” for instance.  

The law has been the source of intense debate in the country in the lead-up to the vote. “Pro-family” opponents, including the main opposition party in parliament, the Democratic Party, described the law as an assault on traditional family values. Opposition to the law has seen disinformation campaigns targeting LGBTQ+ organizations, and the United Nations in Albania expressed deep concern about the spread of “misinformation, divisiveness and personal attacks against both women activists and international civil servants,” including attacks targeting Silvio Gonzato, the EU ambassador to Albania. 

In regards to gender discrimination and equal rights, Albania still has much to improve on, according to the EU’s own report published November 4. Among other concerns, the report noted pervasive discrimination faced by women living in rural and remote areas, Roma women, and LGBTQ+ people. It also raises concern on the high rates of domestic violence in the country, with 47 percent of women and girls reporting having been victims of intimate partner violence.

Nevertheless, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has singled out Albania, alongside Montenegro, Ukraine, and Moldova, as countries that have made “the greatest strides in reforms” on the path to join the EU. 

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Glossary 

• Amendment – additions or edits usually made to a law 

• Benchmark – parameters that must be met. 

• Burden of proof – who legally is required to present evidence that a claim is true or false. 

• Civil servant – a person working for a government in a non-military or security capacity, such as in a diplomatic position. 

• Discrimination – depriving civil or human rights from an individual based on their identity, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, or race. 

• Disinformation – deliberately false information designed to influence a person’s perspective on an issue. 

• Divisiveness – an action having the result of causing disagreement or hostility between people.

• Domestic violence – violence between intimate partners, including but not limited to a husband and wife. 

• Inclusive – having the law permit the free expression of a range of identities and beliefs. 

• Intimate partner violence – see domestic violence. 

• Integration – the process of joining a political body. 

• Gender-based violence: violence targeting an individual based on their identified or perceived gender. 

• Gender diversity – recognizing a range of gender identities beyond only male and female. 

• Gender equality – equal opportunities and rights afforded to all gender identities 

• Gender expression – the ability for a person to live life as the gender they personally identify with. 

• Gender identity – the gender a person identifies us. May not always correspond with a person’s sex, which is identified at birth. 

• Landmark – marking a notable and important moment.

• LGBTQ+ – belonging to sexual and gender minorities, including but not limited to homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people. 

• Misinformation – misleading information that might be spread by those without malicious intent, believing it to be true. 

• Pervasive – widespread

• Provision - aspect. 

• Quota – a set number or percentage that must be met by law

• Roma – an ethnic group found in Europe, especially in the Balkans region, that traditionally follows a nomadic lifestyle. Many Roma face discrimination, including barriers to access to citizenship and healthcare, in the countries they live in.

• Traditional family values – conservative values that often reject feminism and/or LGBTQ+ identity on the basis of adhering to what they view as the ideal family structure: a husband, wife, and children.