More than 40% of the Moldovan children under six are punished by their parents with beating, shows a study made by the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention. The violent treatment makes the children fell distrust and have the feeling of being neglected by the parents. They can copy this model of behavior and beat their children when they grow up.

The center’s psychologist Oxana Shevchenko has told IPN that the parents sometimes react primitively when they do not know how to punish the child because they have a low education level. “The teaching in education institutions does not include education for life and preparation for educating children. Thus, the children are beaten both by parents with higher education and by parents without education,” said the psychologist.

Oxana Shevchenko also said that during the last few years the center carried out a number of campaigns to prevent violence against children. A recent study showed that the number of cases of violence decreased compared with 10 years ago. “The people’s attitude changes and there are more parents now who say they fell uncomfortable when they beat their children. The parents said they do it out of ignorance and would like to know more about how such situations can be avoided. They are ready to change and this is the greatest success we achieved during the last few years,” she stated.

According to the psychologist, the suicide for many children is the only way to get rid of suffering. Many of the children do not speak about their problems and this is serious. “They hide their sufferings and do not believe that somebody can help them escape violence. The teachers and educators should be the first to recognize the signs of violence and to inform the specialists about the problems faced by the children so that they benefit from psychological assistance at school,” said Oxana Shevchenko.

According to the national study “Knowledge, attitudes and practices of families in looking after children and in early child development” that was made in 2009, over 16% of the parents beat their children younger than one year. At the age of 6-7, 57% of the children are beaten by parents, who use this punishment as a discipline method.