Euro-Asian experts discuss methods of protecting children from abuse in Chisinau

The legislation of Moldova is adequate but constitutes only a component part of the mechanism for protecting children against abuse. Concerted effort is needed to ensure that the offenders are punished and to change the mentality of the potential lawbreakers so as to prevent cases of violence, the U.S Ambassador to Moldova Michael Kirby said on March 10 during a briefing on the occasion of the Regional Euro-Asian Conference against Child Exploitation held in Chisinau. The U.S. official said that the states should cooperate at different levels in rooting out child exploitation. He stressed that as a result of the efficient cooperation between the U.S. and Moldovan authorities, the case of the American citizen (Anthony Mark Bianchi– e.n.) that sexually abused minors from European states, including Moldova, was successfully solved. Michael Kirby said that the parents should also protect their children. When they go abroad to work, especially for a long period, the parents should make sure that the person to whom they entrust their children is trustworthy and able to protect them, the Ambassador said. Minister of Home Affairs of Moldova Gheorghe Papuc has told Info-Prim Neo that the national legislation provides efficient methods for protecting the children. At practical level yet, the whole society should engage in protecting the children against abuse. Asked to speak about the forms of exploitation with increased risk for Moldova, the minister mentioned the violence in the family and the sexual exploitation of children for pornography. According to the minister, the persons that force the children to beg also pose a risk. According to the Prosecutor General of Moldova Valeriu Gurbulea, the projects implemented in the last years show Moldova’s eagerness to reach the European standards in the field. The Penal Code was amended in 2006 and from that moment only the prosecutors can investigate cases involving children. The Regional Euro-Asian Conference against Child Exploitation was organized at the initiative of the United States Department of Justice and Department of State with resources from the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau. During four days, the conference participants will discuss practices of cooperation in exploitation cases, will propose models and individual approaches to the problem according to the specific features of every state and will consider matters related to child abuse. A special symposium will center on the dangers of sexual exploitation.