In Albania, thousands of girls have been lost, victims of selective abortions that have been carried out for years there, as in other Balkan countries where patriarchy rules and girls are sometimes considered “undesirable”.

“When my husband found out our fourth child was going to be a girl, he almost killed me”. Lina, who is not introduced by her real name, never gave birth to that fourth daughter. “I was ready to risk my life to prevent this baby from coming into the world.”

The time limit up to which abortion is allowed had passed, so she turned to a private clinic, where the operation was performed in poor sanitary conditions. “For three years now I have been suffering from gynecological problems which also cause psychological problems,” she says, choking back tears.

Like thousands of women in Albania, her life would be much easier if she were pregnant with a boy.

“21,000 girls have disappeared in Albania in the last 10 years”, explains Manuela Bello, representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Albania. “When parents learn that the fetus is female, they choose, for a variety of reasons, to have an abortion rather than keep it.”

Even more so when families already have a girl: in this case a quarter choose abortion rather than have a second girl, according to the estimates of United Nations experts in Tirana.

Between 2000 and 2020, Albania was the fourth country in the world with the largest gap between births of girls and boys: on average, 111 births of boys corresponded to 100 births of girls, according to UN data.

Thanks to awareness campaigns, the numbers have changed somewhat: in 2022, out of 24,688 births, the ratio was 107 boys for 100 girls, according to the “Men and Women 2023” report of the Institute of Statistics of Albania.

In India, a country associated with selective abortion, the ratio was 108 boys for 100 girls in 2021.

The numbers remain elevated compared to the biological average of 105 male births for every 100 female births, explains Ariane Jonka, Professor of Demography at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Unsolicited

Abortion, which was legalized in Albania after the fall of communismIn the early 1950s, it was allowed until the twelfth week of pregnancy. After the twelfth week, an opinion signed by three doctors is required to perform a therapeutic abortion in cases of fetal abnormalities or risk to the mother.

Since 2002, the law specifies that prenatal selection is prohibited.

However, “with the new techniques that are now very widespread and facilitate the determination of the sex of the fetus, it is increasingly difficult to prove that the termination of the pregnancy took place because the fetus was female”, explains Rubena Moziu, a gynecologist in Tirana.

A simple blood test in the 7th week of pregnancy can give a picture of the gender – with an accuracy of more than 90% – even if doctors ask for strict checks on the private laboratories that offer this test without a referral.

The UNFPA office in Albania has been running an awareness campaign for several months to draw the attention of the population as well as the authorities.

Because experts in the region agree: in some Balkan countries, abortion because of the sex of the child is a choice imposed by society.

First responsible, the traditional mentality that considers the man “a pillar of the family” and the girl “a burden or the weaker sex in the face of an aggressive society”, explains Anila Hoxha, investigative journalist and activist for women’s rights in Tirana.

“When my son-in-law and mother-in-law found out that my third baby was also a girl, they were very upset. My mother-in-law suggested that she take me to have an abortion in private,” says Maria, at the UNFPA offices in Tirana. Ultimately, she decided to keep her third daughter and is happy about it every day.

In neighboring Montenegro, the ratio, which was 110/100 in the early 2000s, has come down but remains above average.

“There is a direct connection between patriarchal rules and the preference for boys,” explains Maja Raicevic, who heads the Center for Women’s Rights in Podgorica. And he adds to the scales of inequality “the servile role of women in the family and their economic dependence, because women do not inherit property.”

The center launched in 2017 a campaign called #Nezeljena – Unwanted.

The goal is to push society “to question the values ​​that are taught that end up making one gender desirable and another not even having the right to be born.”

The Balkans are starting to see the results of the awareness campaigns. “But if the phenomenon persists and if there are no quick legislative measures,” warns Professor Arian Dzongka, “the consequences in the near future may cause social imbalance.”