The victims of sexual offenses are not explained their rights in an accessible language and denigrating questions are put to them when they go to court, says a study carried out by the International Center “La Strada”, IPN reports.
The authors of the study analyzed 240 criminal cases concerning sex crimes that were examined by courts in 2011-2015. In 122 of the cases, the victims didn’t come of age.
The study authors said there were cases when the rape was reclassified as sexual intercourse with a person who didn’t turn 16. When examining these cases, the judges ignored victims’ complains and explanations during hearings, where the victims said they didn’t give their consent to have sex.
“The victims are often asked about things that we consider irrelevant like, for example, if they are angry with the assailant or if they had sex earlier or drank alcohol,” said national justice expert Livia Mitrofan.
According to the study authors, the questioning of the victim in the presence of the offender is a frequently met practice. This makes the victim experience again unpleasant feelings. In only one case of the 240 examined, the assailant was removed from the courtroom when the victim was being questioned and in only two cases the prosecution officer and the prosecutor refused to confront the victim and the aggressor.
The experts said the placing of the victim in an unfavorable and stressful situation makes this concede and withdraw the complaint. Thus, in each third examined case, the victim asked to drop the charges in connection with reconciliation, while the court didn’t determine in what conditions an amicable settlement was reached. The request to reproduce at the scene the way in which the abuse was committed is harmful to the victim.
As a result of the study, the experts of “La Strada” formulated a series of recommendations. “The authorities should adopt amendments to the Ppenal Code and the Penal Procedure Code so as not to allow the victim to escape punishment when an amicable settlement is reached with the victim. The institutions should review the notion of “consent” defined in the Penal Code of the Republic of Moldova in case of sex crimes, in accordance with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention,” said “La Strada” lawyer Ana Nani. The 45 recommendations also refer to the rehabilitation of victims, training of professionals and informing of the public about sexual violence.
A copy of the study with recommendations was submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the Superior Council of Magistracy and Parliament. For their part, the authorities assured the Center’s experts that they will take measures to remove the signaled abusive practices.
