Number of abused children stays alarming
https://www.ipn.md/en/number-of-abused-children-stays-alarming-7967_976059.html
Corporeal and humiliating punishments are largely tolerated in Moldova as well as the ways the adults discipline their children. There are cases reported when children died. In Cahul district, a 6-year-old child died after his mother's living partner took him by his legs and hit his head onto the floor, Daniela Popescu, the president of the National Center on prevention of the abuse of children, told a press club, Info-Prim Neo reports.
Maria Popovici, the head of the Minors and Morals Section of the Interior Ministry, has said the number of child abuses is rising also because the children are left without parental care. Their parents have to go and work abroad and leave their children to be taken care of by relatives and neighbors.
During the first 5 months of the year, the police started 192 probes on child abuses. Of them 45 refer to sexual abuse, and in four cases the children died because of the corporeal punishments they were subjected to.
“A mother strangled her child and then took pills to kill herself, because she was in hostile relations with her husband,” Popovici exemplified.
In Sangerei there were two cases recorded when girls were raped by their elder brothers, while in Criuleni district, a biological father raped his daughter, said the police official. Maria Popovici says there are cases when children address authorities, as a rule – mayors or schoolmasters, but they take no stance.
Compared to the recent years, polls show that the Moldovans beat their children less. According to an opinion research carried out by CBS AXA in May, there is a minor start of attitude change in Moldova as to the application of corporeal punishments. Thus, about 18% respondents changed their opinion compared to 2005, saying the the corporeal punishments is not acceptable.
But the research data are confusing. On the one hand the interviewees consider that the corporeal punishment must not be used in any case, the amount of corporeally punished children remains high.
In the wake of the national policies on preventing and curbing violence, the National Center on prevention of the abuse of children, in a partnership with the ministry in charge and the an alliance of NGOs unfolds a regional campaign against beating children “Notice me, Hear me, Help Me!”, from November 2008 to October 2009.
