Children’s watchdogs demand that Moldova’s Eurovision entries pass through children’s rights filter

Children’s rights defenders, including non-profit organisations and local watchdog agencies, demand that the songs for Eurovision be selected according to additional criteria, which, among others, would ensure the observance of children’s rights. In a press statement quoted by Info-Prim Neo, the petitioners insist that a jury must verify and filter out songs whose lyrics are injurious to children, before these songs reach the national pre-selection stage. The petitioners mentioned the song called “I love the girls of 13 years old” proposed by singer Alexandru Bognibov for Eurovision 2008, which in their opinion has an erotic content, promotes child abuse and paedophilia. Although rejected at the pre-selection stage, the song is now available on the Internet and can be accessed by everyone, at any time, the statement reads. The petitioners condemn the promotion of such songs, whose contents harm children’s rights and incite the audience to immoral acts and child sexual abuse. The absence of specific selection criteria for Eurovision’s national stage allows for promoting sexist images of children, the petitioners said. Lorena Ghitu, CCF Moldova project coordinator, told Info-Prim Neo that a copy of the statement has been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office too. If the law enforcement bodies fail to take action, the petitioning organisations will resort to other measures. The petition was signed by the Chisinau city’s Division for Child Protection, the NGO “CCF Moldova - Child, Community, Family”, the Social Centre of the Moldovan Orthodox Church “Agapis”, the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF), the Centre for Prevention of Trafficking in Humans, the Child Rights Information Centre, the National Centre for Prevention of Child Abuse, the Ialoveni-based Social Assistance Service, and the Ungheni-based Association of Adoptive Parents.