For information on violence against women, including minors, on the abduction of young women and children and on whether there are shelters to assist abused women, please consult Responses to Information Requests ALB22416.E of 8 December 1995 and ALB22653.E of 19 January 1996. The 13 June 1994 San Francisco Examiner article attached to ALB22416.E contains a reference to the passing of a law that prohibits the sale of women. For further information on violence against women, including youths, on the abduction of children and women, and on the government response, please consult the 8 April 1992 Agence France Presse (AFP) and 31 December 1995 ATA News Agency attachments to this Response.

Information on government agencies and any cultural and Islamic norms pertaining to child protection could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. However, for information on the adult touching of children in Albanian society, please consult the first page, the first paragraph of the second page, the last paragraph of the fourth page, and page five of the Houston Chronicle attachment of 17 September 1995. For further information on the situation of children in Albania, please consult page 727 of Country Reports 1994, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 8 April 1992. "Albania: More and More Girls Raped and Kidnapped Say Police." (NEXIS)

ATA News Agency [Tirana, in English]. 31 December 1995. "Government; Premier Praises Action Against Drugs and Kidnapping in Albania." (BBC Summary 31 Dec. 1995/NEXIS)

The Houston Chronicle. 17 September 1995. 2 Star Edition. Jim Schutze. "Albanian Cleared of Crime but Loses Kids Anyway; Clash of Cultures Catches Couple." (NEXIS)

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.

News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Oral sources.

RFE/RL Research Reports [Munich]. Weekly.

Transition: Events and Issues in the Former Soviet Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe [Prague]. Bi-monthly.