Harassment and victimization will carry administrative penalty. A relevant bill aimed at improving the mechanisms of protection against discrimination was given a first reading by Parliament, IPN reports.

The authors of the document suggest extending the non-discrimination criteria, improving the collection of data about equality, monitoring, assessing and annually reporting the results and strengthening the institutional framework. At the same time, the Contravention Code will be supplemented with the notions ”harassment” and “victimization”.

This way, there will be punished any unwanted behavior that leads to the creation of an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for the purpose of harming the dignity of a person. It should be noted that sexual harassment is punished in accordance with the Penal Code.

The bill allows for the amendment of the law on the ensuring of equality by adding a series of discriminatory criteria, including those concerning the social and national origin, social status, state of health, political beliefs or any other options. The inclusion of such criteria derives from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The bill was drafted in accordance with the national action plan for implementing the Moldova - EU Association Agreement and is aimed at removing the normative gaps in the field.