Imoraliteti në familje
Immorality in the family

Promotion women's complaints to reinforce the power of the party in the Albanian cultural revolution

Summary/Abstract: Communist Albania of Enver Hoxha (1945-1985), a paranoid and isolated dictatorship, in 1967 openly declared its aim to fight for the emancipation of women. This article analyzes the archive folder with complaints forwarded to Enver Hoxha, titled "promiscuity in the family", to examine how victims of sexual violence seek justice from "Enver" and how Hoxha and the Party answered them. This archival resource highlights strong contrast between, on the one hand, the party and Hoxha promising support and the promotion of women’s complaints against sexual violence they suffered from; on the other hand the instrumental use of these appeals, which means: not to come to the aid of the victims or to prevent rape in the future, but mainly to increase the power of the Party. The article explores how Hoxha encouraged and used women’s experiences of sexual violence to strengthen his control over the party and party control over state and society in Albanian Cultural Revolution.

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