About 10% of children are beaten or know cases of child violence

Children from 13 districts of Moldova formulated a questionnaire on the observance of children’s rights and used them in their schools. There were surveyed 1,215 children aged between 9 and 18. About 10% of them said their right to be protected from violence is not respected, they are beaten or they know cases of child violence, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on November 19, the authors of the questionnaire said one of the difficulties they encountered when carrying out the survey was the children’s fear not to be believed or to be punished. Though the respondents were guaranteed anonymity, the authors of the questionnaire do not exclude that the real situation of children’s rights may be worse. Among the most frequently violated rights mentioned by the children are: the right to free time (37%), the right to opinion (36.6%), the right to education (13%), the right to family (9.6%) and the right to be protected from violence (9.5%). The children younger than 14 want to have more spare time, while the teenagers want more freedom of expression. According to the survey, the right that is more often violated in villages is the right to free time. The children in rural areas are often engaged in agricultural and household work The young researchers were trained by specialists of the Information and Documentation Center for Children’s Rights. The Center’s head Cezar Gavriliuc said the recommendations that the children will make basing on the survey will be submitted to local and central authorities. According to Gavriliuc, the involvement of children in assessing the situation of children’s rights is a new practice not only for Moldova, but also for Southeastern Europe. One of the questionnaire authors, Igor Lai, 15, said the girls are better informed about their rights because they behave better and are more frequently involved by the teachers in different information projects. Irina Gusan, 17, said the adults tell the boys that it is a shame for them to seek help and thus they do not make much fuss when their rights are violated. Asked which of their rights were infringed, the children that held the conference avoided saying. Cezar Gavriliuc explained that some of them have been persecuted by the director of the school where they learn for articles about the violation of children’s rights published in the press.