The victims of domestic violence, who are mainly women and children, are alone in front of family aggressors. These can remain unpunished if women’s complaints are examined superficially by the police, while the police employees document the cases insufficiently, sometimes mistakenly drawing up cases on contraventions, Lilia Potîng, jurist of Promo-LEX Association stated, being quoted by IPN.
For Maria B. (changed name), the marriage was a nightmare that lasted for almost ten years. Her husband hit her cruelly, invoking some trivial reasons. “He said he didn’t like the food, I didn’t listen to him and didn’t do what he said. At 7am, when the people drink tea, I was beaten. He didn’t drink alcoholic beverages,” related Maria B., who benefits from free legal assistance from the jurists of Promo-LEX.
Later, the violent scenes could happen before the eyes of their two children, who are now 5 and 8. Earlier, Maria B. submitted a number of complaints to the local police station, but she every time withdrew them as she was afraid of her husband. “I was afraid. He was threatening me. I’m afraid now too. He is there (e.n. in jail), but I live with fear. The children are fine and do not want to even hear about him,” stated the woman. She went abroad to work, but returned home as the man mercilessly beat his children. “When I was in Italy, he showed to me how he beat them. He showed how he hit the girl in the head with a can, how he poured water over her head. It was winter. He set the clothes on fire.”
The victim reported the use of violence to the police, but the case was investigated superficially. “Taking into account only the medical-legal examination report, the police officer made a report on contravention, Article 78/1 of the Contravention Code, which punishes domestic violence. The police officer ignored the victim’s accounts, the fact that the man was earlier convicted for domestic violence that he committed while being on probation for a period of three years and the fact that the children were also victims. It was evident that the aggressors’ actions were to be treated as offense in accordance with Article 201/1 of the Penal Code, concerning domestic violence. The policeman documented the case insufficiently and sent it to court. Owing to the effort made by the lawyers of Promo-LEX, the court annulled the report on contravention and transmitted the case to the Prosecutor’s Office. If Promo-LEX hadn’t intervened, the case could have been dropped given the committed mistakes and the aggressor would have remained unpunished,” explained Lilia Potîng.
On September 5, 2018, the aggressor was sentenced to nine years in jail and is now in penitentiary. The sentence can be challenged in the Appeals Court.
The mother and the children were housed by the Association Against Violence “Casa Mărioarei” for nine months. They also benefitted from medical and psychological assistance from the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims “Memoria”. “In most of the cases, it is very hard for the victims to break the vicious circle even if both the mother and the children suffer. The aggressor can exert substantial pressure and can manipulate the victim and third parties so that the victim is ready to give up making testimonies and lives in continuous fear even if the aggressor is in detention. The consequences of violence are serious for female victims. But it is more serious when the traumas suffered by their children are diverse, profound and can affect these throughout life,” stated Ludmila Popovici, executive director of the Center “Memoria”.
Promo-LEX, “Memoria” and “Casa Mărioarei” call on the authorities to make sure the cases of domestic violence are examined with proper diligence so that the victims are not afraid to seek help.
According to the police, 2,909 cases of domestic violence were recorded in 2017, a decrease of 21% on 2016. The police started 956 criminal cases and documented 1,953 cases according to the Contravention Code. The number of persons who reported conflicts in the family exceeded 10,000 in 2017, the figure being by 412 cases lower than in 2016.
In the framework of the project “Promoting respect for women’s rights in Moldova by combating gender-based violence”, Promo-LEX Association, the Association Against Violence “Casa Mărioarei” and the Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims “Memoria” provide legal, medical, social and psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence. The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union.
