A number of 46 recommendations concerning the necessity of protecting the rights of women and ensuring gender equality were made to Moldova by 41 states. These were formulated within the Universal Periodic Review and Moldova accepted them. This means that the authorities have four years and a half to implement them.
The proposals were synthetized by the International Center “La Strada”, to which IPN makes reference.
The Moldovan authorities were urged to take measures to combat domestic violence and sexual abuse, including by efficiently punishing aggressors. The countries insisted on the necessity of ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Moldova is to improve the measures to prevent, punish and eradicate violence against women and to make everything possible to remove gender stereotypes.
Another recommendation was to continue the campaigns to sensitize the public to domestic violence and to create temporary shelters for victims of domestic violence, including in rural areas.
It was underlined the necessity of ensuring effective prosecution in cases of violence against women. There were also formulated recommendations concerning other aspects on which the Moldovan authorities should concentrate their attention in order to ensure the respect for women’s rights. Moldova pledged to encourage the young women to choose less traditional areas of studies and professions. Another commitment was to consolidate the women’s representation in the Government and Parliament.
Statistics show that 63% of the women and girls older than 15 in Moldova were subject to at least one form of physical, psychological and sexual violence during their lifetime. Also, 27% of the men and 17% of the women consider that a woman should tolerate violence in order to keep the family, while over 40% of the men believe there are moments when a woman should be beaten.
