Twenty-two years after a government commitment to establish a nationwide system of shelters to protect women from violence in Algeria, only three have formally opened, leaving survivors across the country without sufficient access to protection amid concerns over exclusionary admission criteria and undue restrictions on freedom of movement for those seeking safety, Amnesty International said today.
Executive Decree No. 04-182 introduced in June 2004 calls for the establishment of national shelters to provide temporary housing and medical, social, and psychological care to women who are subjected to violence. It also calls for survivors to be provided with legal assistance.
However, only three shelters have been set up so far, namely in Tipaza, Mostaghanem and Annaba – all are in northern Algeria. This falls far short of the needs of the country’s 69 wilayas (provinces); home to more than 48 million people. UN guidelines recommend one center per 10,000 inhabitants. Yet the three centers established combined can only accommodate around 220 people, according to interviews with representatives of women’s rights associations.
“More than two decades after Algerian authorities committed to confront the scrouge of violence against women and girls, access to shelters remains woefully inadequate and unequal. Women in the center and south of the country are forced to travel vast distances to reach a shelter – a prohibitive barrier in a country stretching over 2,000 km from north to south,” said Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
The Ministry of National Solidarity, Family, and Women’s Affairs did not respond to a March 2025 request for a meeting with Amnesty International to discuss its preliminary findings and obtain further information, despite several follow-ups. The ministry also refused to authorize a visit to the Bou Ismaïl center west of Algiers despite several requests since July 2024, stating that NGOs were not granted access to such facilities.
According to information gathered from independent experts and civil society organizations working on gender-based violence, shelters are frequently overcrowded and under-resourced. Since 2010, women’s rights organizations have opened at least five facilities to help address the gaps.
Given the climate of fear and stigma, Amnesty International was unable to interview women survivors of violence, who sought protection in shelters, and has based its findings on the analysis of legislation, review of official government statements, interviews with women’s rights organizations, service providers, and other civil society actors.
Access barriers and undue restrictions on movement
Admission to the established government shelters is also subject to a decision by the relevant provincial governor (wali) or their representative. This centralized approach may hinder rapid and effective access to protection, particularly in emergencies. The decree’s wording, which requires that women admitted to shelters must be in a “situation of distress” and stipulates the need to assess their “disorders” raises concerns and must be amended to align with international standards for supporting survivors of gender-based violence.
Decree 15-212 of August 2015, which amends Decree 04-182, specifies that the shelters may admit women between the ages of 19 and 65 for a renewable one-year period, provided they present a medical certificate, two photographs, and a copy of an identity document. Those without identification documents may be admitted for a period of four days, and provided they are subject to a “social investigation”. These restrictive admission requirements constitute an additional barrier to accessing the shelters for many women, including victims of domestic violence, older women, or undocumented migrants, as well as young women and children under the age of 19.
Interviews with women’s rights defenders and others with information about the situation in shelters conducted by Amnesty International between 20/01/2024 and 10/2/2025 indicate that women living at the shelters face restrictions on their freedom of movement and access to external communication. The women are also not allowed to bring their children to live with them at the shelters leading to family separation, exacerbating their precarious situation. Such restrictions, unless strictly necessary and proportionate to ensure their safety, violate women’s freedom of movement and personal autonomy, as well as the rights to family life. They are likely to reinforce feelings of isolation, which may deter women from seeking shelter or prompt those in shelters to return to their abusive environments.
Children who have witnessed violence are also recognized as victims under international human rights law and standards, and states have an obligation to protect them, including through adequate support services and access to appropriate shelters.
“According to Algeria’s international obligations and its own constitution the authorities must ensure that shelters for victims of gender-based violence are fully accessible, free from discrimination, unnecessary entry requirements or restrictions, and that women are able to seek refuge without separating from their children,” said Diana Eltahawy.
Algeria has ratified several international treaties on women’s rights, notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) in 2004. These treaties require states to prevent gender-based violence, protect victims, and make sure they have access to appropriate support services, including shelters, as well as implementing concrete and accessible measures to ensure protection.
Information gaps and lack of awareness
Amnesty International’s research also highlights how gaps in publicly available information and outreach efforts by the Algerian authorities exacerbate the difficulties faced by survivors, particularly those in remote areas and those with limited or no access to the internet and lower levels of education, in obtaining adequate information on how to access shelters and other available support services. In February 2025, the Algerian government announced several measures, including the creation of a 24-hour helpline and an interactive online platform to support victims of violence against women, as well as legal guide outlining victims’ rights and available legal remedies. Women’s rights groups welcomed these steps but noted that many women remain unaware of these new measures, which limits their accessibility and effectiveness.
International law requires Algeria to take the necessary measures to ensure that victims of gender-based violence receive adequate and timely information about available support services and legal measures, in accessible languages and formats.
The authorities have also refused to share key information about the shelters with civil society organizations assisting victims of violence. This includes basic data such as their capacity, the number of beneficiaries, and allocated budgets. In addition to this lack of transparency, Amnesty International gathered information indicating that victims encounter practical barriers in accessing shelters, and that access at times depends on informal facilitation. This lack of transparency prevents civil society organizations from effectively referring victims to existing public services.
“Access to information for victims is crucial both to ensure the effectiveness of a protection system and to hold the government to account over its obligations. Without a minimum of reliable publicly available data, it is difficult to assess whether the needs of beneficiaries are truly being met,” Diana Eltahawy said. “Algerian authorities must urgently expand the current network of shelters in line with the 2004 decree, to ensure truly national coverage, including for women in rural and remote areas and their children. The authorities must also make detailed information on the centers publicly available and allow visits by independent organizations to assess conditions. They must also allocate sufficient financial and human resources to ensure the needs of women staying at the shelters are met and that women and girls across the country have access to full information on how to access such shelters.”
The Algerian authorities must engage in genuine and meaningful consultation with human rights organizations, including those focusing on women’s rights, survivors and other key stakeholders to ensure the establishment of an effective national protection system.
Background
The Algerian authorities fail to publish comprehensive official statistics on gender-based violence. Data shared by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), the Information and Documentation Centre on the Rights of the Child and Women (CIDDEF) and the National Public Health Institute (INSP) on gender-based violence, is partial and does not provide a comprehensive overview. Available data nevertheless indicates an overall increase in reported cases of violence against women between 2023 and 2024.
According to the DGSN, approximately 7,500 complaints of violence against women were recorded in 2024, representing a 12.4% increase compared to 2023. The actual figures are believed to be much higher, particularly in relation to sexual violence, which remains severely under-reported compared to estimates by civil society organizations.
Medical data from the INSP further recorded 4,004 cases of women survivors of physical or sexual violence in medico-legal and emergency services across five pilot provinces in 2023, highlighting both the scale of violence and the limitations of existing data collection systems. There are no official statistics available on femicides. The activist group Féminicides Algérie documented at least 37 femicides in 2025.
Executive Decree No. 04-182 of June 24, 2004, called for the establishment of a national system of shelters for women victims of violence. It marked a major development expanding protection for women who are victims of violence by establishing a comprehensive national legal framework for the creation, organization, and operation of shelters nationwide.
It established an initial list of shelters, notably in Tipaza and Tlemcen, while specifying that the creation of new shelters must be authorized by an executive decree. However, the Tlemcen shelter – completed in 2018- has never opened, with the authorities yet to provide an explanation. In March 2010, Decree 10-96 provided for the creation of a shelter in Mostaganem, also in north-western Algeria, and the shelter is now operational. In August 2015, a fourth Decree 15-212 amended the objectives and admission criteria for the centres. In August 2019, Decree 19-214 provided for the creation of a fourth shelter in Annaba, north-eastern Algeria, which is currently operational.
Article 40 of the 2020 Algerian Constitution requires the state to protect women against all forms of violence and guarantees victims’ access to shelters, care services, and legal aid by law.
In August 2025, Algeria lifted reservations of Article 15(4) of CEDAW relating to freedom of movement and residence, but maintains reservations regarding Articles 2, 16, and 29 of CEDAW, concerning provisions deemed to conflict with the Algerian Family Code, which establishes a legal system discriminatory toward women, particularly regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.
The legal provisions regarding gender-based and sexual violence in Algeria’s Penal Code remain highly insufficient and are not in line with international standards. Among other things, the definition of rape does not comply with international standards, and marital rape is not deemed a criminal offense.
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