The war in Ukraine led to the expansion of toxic masculinity at regional level, including in the Republic of Moldova, and can affected gender equality and cause the loss of all the results achieved so far. Violence against women can be fought by improving the legislation in the field, by training decision makers and supporting organizations that help women. The conclusions were formulated in an international conference centering on the prevention and combating of violence against girls and women, IPN reports.
In the event, President Maia Sandu said that domestic violence cannot be justified by the customs of a country. “Violence means fear, pain and sometimes fatal ending. The combating of violence against women and girls means more chances of development for them and also for society. The higher is the number of educated, economically independent and professionally successful women, the stronger and healthier will be our society,” stated the official.
President Sandu said that in most of the cases, death due to domestic violence is the result of the lack of reaction on the part of institutions that do not do their job. That’s why the legislation needs to be improved, so that it protects the victims and punishes the abusers, and to be implemented. Moldova recently ratified the Istanbul Convention that offers a wide framework of actions for better informing the victims about their rights, training decision makers and supporting organizations that help women and children who are victims of violence.
Dominika Stojanoska, UN Women Moldova Country Representative, said the girls and those from marginalized groups should form part of the decision-making process at the upper level. “We must be partners with the civil society organizations that promote the rights of women and leadership among women,” she stated.
Claudia Luciani, Director of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance at the Council of Europe, noted that the war in Ukraine created new challenges and one of them is the large inflow of refugees in the Republic of Moldova. This situation should also be closely monitored. “Many countries focused on protection and punishment of offenders but we consider that emphasis should be also laid on prevention. If we want to break this vicious circle, we must become involved with different prevention mechanisms,” stated Claudia Luciani.
Veronica Teleucă, coordinator of the National Coalition “Life Without Violence”, said that in patriarchal societies, the women during many years have had their right to expression limited. In such societies, harassment is normalized, justified and overlooked either it goes to harassment in public transport or to sexual harassment, online violence, harassment of women who decide to enter politics. “The supporting of women is one of the most important moments when a woman sets off on the road to autonomy,” said the coordinator of “Life Without Violence”.
The Republic of Moldova last year ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which is better known as the Istanbul Convention. The authorities undertook to promote zero tolerance of domestic violence, violence against women and to recognize this as a form of human rights violation and of discrimination.
