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MY BODY IS MY OWN

MY BODY IS MY OWN

"My Body is My Own" campaign comes to Albania

My Body is My OwnUNFPA and UN Women's "My body is my own" campaign arrived to Albania as a new art initiative, aiming to raise awareness on bodily autonomy, gender equality, gender-based violence and antidiscrimination.

The initiative aims to engage young girls and boys from all around Albania, fond of photography and illustration, by using their artworks to convey messages and help spark a conversation around this theme. The first stage brought together these young people with experts and professional artists in workshops to enhance their knowledge on bodily autonomy, gender equality and gender-based violence, and develop their artistic skills in photography and illustration.

The workshops were conducted by professional photographer Anna Ehrenstein and prominent art lecturers and artists, Ardian Isufi and Harri Aleksi. Psychologists and social workers Izela Tahsii and Anila Sulstarova also provided a social and psychological perspetive of the topics, to make young people dwell more on the causes and how to best address such sensitive topics without any prejudice or viewed from a positive solution-oriented perspective. The acquired skills were then used into artwork which will strive to give impactful messages and an appeal for empowered and informed choices about one's body, without any fear of coercion or violence.

Artworks from young people come to life

Artworks from young artists on display in Tirana for the "My body is my own" exhibition. @UNFPA Albania/Giulia Dajci

The initiative aimed to expand on concepts around bodily autonomy and gender equality to make them more tangible for the broader society and to help break down harmful practices and stereotypes that continue to prevail. Artworks from 20 passionate young people were showcased in three traveling exhibitions around Albania—Korça, Shkodra and Tirana—during the "16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence" campaign, which ran from 25 November to 10 December. The best three artworks from each category, photography and illustration, were selected and awarded prizes by a jury of experts. 

Ema Bregu, one of the 20 young artists featured at the exhibition. @UNFPA Albania/Giulia Dajci

 

@UNFPA Albania/Giulia Dajci

 

The campaign had some 1.5 million reached people of all ages and 2.6 million impressions, as well as widest social media and media coverage that joined us with great interest in discussions on such an important topic as the fight against gender-based violence in Albania.

“My body is my own” initiative is being organized as part of a UN Joint Programme on ending violence against women and girls in Albania, supported by the Government of Sweden and implemented by UNFPA, UN Women and UNDP.