The total cost of services for each case of violence against women is of over 64,000 lei, while the lack of such services for one woman costs society more than 689,000 lei. The health sector incurs the largest costs for alleviating cases of violence, especially for the hospital treatment of victims. The social sector incurs the lowest costs. The specialized services, such as psychological counseling, legal aid and child care, remain drastically underfinanced, shows a study carried out by the Women’s Law Center of Moldova. This was commissioned by UN Women Moldova and the World Health Organization’s Office in Moldova, IPN reports.
Women’s Law Center president Angelina Zaporojan-Pargari said they aimed to analyze the costs incurred by the public authorities, civil society and the victims of violence. There were assessed three public sectors, namely social protection, health, and justice. It was established that owing to the reaction mechanism that focuses on the consequences of domestic violence and violence against women, not on prevention, the highest costs are incurred by the health sector. The second largest costs are incurred by the justice sector owing to the complex procedure as the cases of domestic violence form part of the penal system.
The study shows the private financial investment covers a part of the services that are not available or exist only partially in the public sector. 60% of the social services needed by victims are ensured by civil society organizations. At the same time, the victims’ contribution to covering advocacy services is four times higher than the state contribution. The victims prefer private lawyers because the quality of the services provided now by the state is low.
Another finding is that the response reaction to cases of domestic violence is insufficient and is not systematic. The multidisciplinary response and coordination of intervention in cases of domestic violence are inefficient in practice. In this regard, experts recommend continuously training professionals from the health, social and other sectors. According to them, all the sectors must cooperate to consolidate the multidisciplinary response, in accordance with the best international practices.
The experts also consider that the authorities must lay emphasis on the promotion of prevention and support services so as to prevent the enormous cost of domestic violence.
