The right to freedom of opinion is partially respected in the Republic of Moldova. Most often, reference is made to the violation of this right in election campaigns, primarily in relation to employees of state intuitions. Even if theoretically these have the right to state their political opinions and to support a particular candidate, in fact trey are intimidated and threatened with dismissal, shows the third study of the perception of the observance of human rights that was commissioned by the Ombudsperson’s Office to the CBS-AXA Center of Sociological Investigations, IPN reports.
40% of the respondents consider the right to information, freedom of opinion and the right to free expression of journalists are respected, with particular upward trends in the positive opinion compared with the previous studies. About 72% of those polled believe that the risks following the free expression of the opinion persist to a full extent or to a particular extent (68% in 2018 and 63% in 2016). The expression of the opinion about the senior administration, politicians, rich people, corruption is risker, while about religion, environmental and human rights violation is less riskier.
According to 2/3 of the respondents, the men and women in Moldova have equal rights and each fifth respondent considers that the situation of men is somehow better than the situation of women. In the study presentation event held online, CBS-AXA sociologist Vasile Cantarji said the men in a larger number than the women consider such rights as the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, of assembly, right to property, right to water and sanitation are respected, while the women consider the rights to health and social protection are better respected.
“The residents of towns are more positive in their appraisals of all the human rights than the villagers. The observance of the rights and freedoms is better perceived by economically active persons, persons with a higher level of education and of welfare,” stated Vasile Cantarji.
The pandemic situation contributed to the worsening of the observance of particular rights, such as the rights to health and education and the right to free movement, assembly etc. In the context of the pandemic, the vulnerability of women expanded from a number of perspectives, from the increase in the number of acts of domestic violence and expansion of the income gap to the lack of socioeconomic support for looking after children, especially in the case of single mothers.
Eighth in ten respondents consider the improvement of the human rights situation greatly depends on Parliament, the Government, ministries and their departments and also on the mayor’s offices and the President of the Republic of Moldova. The respondents consider the greatest attention to the respect for the human rights should be devoted to children, older persons, women, persons with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, victims of trafficking in human beings.
The study of the perception of the observance of human rights 2021 is the third study commissioned by the Ombudsperson’s Office during the past six years, besides those conducted in 2016 and 2018. It presents the population’s opinion about the observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova. The study covered a sample of 1,006 persons aged 18 and up and was carried out during 24.12.2020 - 25.01.2021.
