The right to reproductive health is not guaranteed to all the persons in Moldova. The state does not obey articles of the European Social Charter that guarantees all the persons in the Republic of Moldova the right to health protection, which Moldova ratified and for which it assumed obligations. As regards the observance of the right to reproductive health, the women, especially those with disabilities, are the social group that experiences most of the violations of this right, shows an alternative report on the implementation of the European Social Charter by the Republic of Moldova that was produced by the Coalition for Inclusion and Nondiscrimination (CIN).
In a news conference at IPN, lawyer Doina-Ioana Străisteanu, human rights expert, said that, for example, a minor without the consent of the parent or the guardian cannot access sexual and reproductive health services when necessary, including information about reproductive health, available contraceptives, etc. “In cases of rape or sexual abuse, when such a pill should be prescribed without many discussions to a minor victim of the offense, the girl does not have access to such a pill without the guardian’s consent as the legislation provides that the consent of the legal representative is mandatory for accessing this service. We consider this practice is discriminatory and we propose, recommend the Government to make changes so as to enable the young people to choose an adult they trust to access such services,” stated Doina-Ioana Străisteanu.
The lawyer noted that on the pharmaceutical market of Moldova, there are not many types of modern contraceptives for women. “We recommend the Government to intervene in the regulation of the pharmaceutical market so as to oblige the producers and importers of pharmaceutical products to ensure this diversity,” stated the expert. Speaking about the persons with disabilities, she said that this is a social group that is very discriminated in the accession of such services. The family doctor’s centers are not adjusted and the ramps there either do not match the prescribed standard or have one ramp that enables to enter the center, not yet to go to the second or third floor where the gynecology offices are usually situated. Many centers do not have gynecological examination chairs adjusted for women with locomotor disabilities even if the law during over six years has obliged the state to ensure the architectural areas and the services are adjusted to the needs of persons with disabilities. “Here, we recommend the Republic of Moldova to intervene not only at normative level, but to also allocate sufficient resources so that these urban, engineering and communicative barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services for this social group are liquidated,” stated Doina-Ioana Străisteanu.
As to the European Social Charter’s article that guarantees the right to social and medical assistance, the report authors say Moldova does not have emergency centers and a referral system for cases of sexual violence where the victims of sexual abuse would benefit from the necessary social and medical assistance. “We do not have standard operation procedures for referring cases of sexual rape, as regards the investigation, social and medical assistance. Here, we recommend the Government to prioritize the creation of these direction teams by adjusting the necessary standard procedures so that the victims of these offenses access the necessary services,” stated the lawyer.
