More than half (58%) of the 149 persons interviewed within the project “Monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities in Moldova”, said that their right to take part in assemblies is violated. Elena Ratoi, the representative of “Motivatie” Association that is implementing the project, in a news conference at IPN, said the surveyed persons complained that they are discriminated through attitude. They do not enjoy conditions for taking part in events that they want to attend. A part of them said that society looks at them like at persons of the second sort, who always need assistance and who do not bring surplus value in society.
“Many persons feel excluded from social programs. When they apply, they are told that they are not entitled to social assistance. When this assistance is provided, it is insignificant and does not enable them to have a decent living. Therefore, a recommendation is to improve the social services intended for persons with disabilities,” stated Elena Ratoi.
The monitoring of the problems faced by persons with disabilities revealed that the national legislation corresponds to the international provisions, but there are no appropriate implementation mechanisms. Penalties are stipulated for those who infringe on the rights of these persons, but the legislation is not put into practice.
There were identified cases when the persons with disabilities were misled about their rights. “They were told that they do not have the right to work or their pension will be cut. Therefore, they gave up working. Most of the disabled persons want the people to look at them from equal to equal, not like at somebody who needs care. These persons cane be useful in society. They should not be marginalized,” said the representative of “Motivatie” Association.
Only two of the polled persons with disabilities said that they used the services of a lawyer to defend their rights. According to the authors of the project, this is due to the lack of access to legal services of a high quality or to the fact that the persons with disabilities do not know about the right to such services. “We think that a wider campaign is needed to inform about and promote the rights of the persons with disabilities,” stated Elena Ratoi.
In Moldova there are 183,000 people with disabilities.
