A number of nongovernmental human rights organizations will stage a women’s solidarity march in Chisinau on March 8. The goal of the event is to sensitize society to the problems faced now by the women in the Republic of Moldova and to demand that the rights of women should be respected by the state institutions. The march forms part of the Feminist Festival 2018 that is entitled “Solidarity between Women” and is held during March 6-8.

In a news conference at IPN, Anastasia Danilov, executive director of the Information Center “Genderdoc-M”, urged the women to take part in the march. According to her, the women should make common cause in the fight against stereotypes about them and this solidarity can become a symbol of the women’s unity. “I will go to the march as I want the rights of women of different nationalities, professions and religious denominations to be respected,” stated Anastasia Danilov.

Irina Revin, head of the Association of Entrepreneurs with Disabilities of Moldova, said that even if there are improvements as regards the promotion of women in a number of areas of activity at legislative level, in reality there are obstacles that restrict women’s rights. The women have much lower salaries than men even if they have the same workload. Many legislative gaps hamper the women from starting a business, discriminate the Roma women and the women with disabilities as regards their right to become mothers.

“I will take part in the march and will make common cause with all the groups of women in Moldova as I want to live in a balanced and equitable society where everyone is equal and has equal rights and where there is no discrimination on such grounds as gender, age, social status or color of the skin,” stated Irina Revin.

“It is important to unite and sensitize society and to try and minimize the problems of women in the Republic of Moldova. Only when we are united and are solidary, can we do many things,” said Olga Bitca, expert of the Resource Center for Human Rights.

Nina Lozinski, secretary general of the Gender Equality Platform, said the march is also designed to warn about the shortcomings existing in the new Election Code, which is unfriendly to women. As the previous one, the current Code discriminates against women and their promotion in politics and to executive posts remains a problem.

The march starts in the square of UNIC Store in Chisinau at midday. The participants will march along Stefan cel Mare Blvd up to the National Opera House “Maria Biesu”. Such a march has been mounted since 2011.