Pembroke Spotlight: Dr Endrit Shabani on Albania's Fight for Women's Place in Democracy

Two Pembrokians, alumnus Dr Endrit Shabani and Fellow Professor Stephen Whitefield, came together to design the Women's Participation in Elections Index to measure the barriers preventing women in Albania from participating in politics. Dr Shabani shares more below.

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From Silence to Power: Albania's Fight for Women's Place in Democracy

Dr Endrit Shabani (2013, MSc Education)

In Albanian society, women have traditionally stayed out of the country's political life. A deeply entrenched ‘common sense’ has been underpinned by legal barriers and social norms that have made the political arena anything but a level playing field. While the past three decades have brought significant changes to Albanian society, these shifts have often obscured the systemic barriers women continue to face. From pursuing political ambitions to simply having their voices heard, the journey for women remains an uphill battle.

To expose these challenges for women, Professor Stephen Whitefield and I worked with experts of UN Women in Albania to design a ground-breaking tool: the Women’s Participation in Elections Index. It would systematically measure the legal, economic and social barriers that prevent women from fully participating in the political life of the country. 

The story of contrasts 

At first glance, Albania appears to be at the forefront of promoting women in government, with more than 56% of cabinet roles held by women, surpassing most European countries. Yet, beneath the shining surface, troubling realities emerged from the findings of the Index. Examining 29 dimensions of the electoral process across the country’s 12 regions, it showed that women encounter significant barriers: from the freedom to vote independently to the significant challenges they face as political candidates. On the one hand, women’s freedom to vote was often curtailed by coercion, including from family members, and many felt that their voices would not make a difference. On the other hand, political campaigns of women candidates were often starved of resources and donor support. The index visualised these struggles, leaving them at a disadvantage before their journey even begins. 

A Roadmap for Change

Despite the challenges, the index did more than just expose problems, it pointed to the way forward, offering suggestions on what ought to be done to improve women’s participation in politics. Using colour-coded maps that displayed obstacles faced by women all over the country, the Index served as a communication tool for human rights activists in the country. 

One of the most notable cases was in 2019 when, together with a group of activists, we led a legal initiative to amend the electoral code of Albania. Backed by 50,000 voters, this movement captured national attention and elevated the issue to the top of the political agenda. Moreover, when the initiative was discussed in Parliament, the Index’s data were used by MPs to bolster the case for the introduction of gender quotas. This momentum culminated nearly a year later, in 2020, with a landmark amendment to the Albanian Constitution, which for the first time stipulated that the electoral system must guarantee gender representation in Parliament. 

This experience showed that more than a diagnostic tool, the research findings of this initiative were a call to action. As many countries continue to grapple with these realities, this experience begs the question: How can we transform research findings from academic theory into practical tools that strengthen democratic systems?