National study “The intersection of violence against children and women in the Republic of Moldova”

The National Study “The Intersection between Violence against Children and Violence against Women in the Republic of Moldova” was conducted under the joint UNICEF–UNFPA Programme “Breaking the Cycle of Violence against Women and Children”, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, under the coordination of the National Agency for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Ministry of Education and Research.

Conducted by the international company Tsunagu, the research provides a comprehensive analysis of how violence against women and violence against children coexist and reinforce one another within the same family, throughout the life course. The findings show that the phenomenon is widespread and manifests in multiple forms — emotional, physical, sexual and digital — affecting women and children simultaneously and perpetuating intergenerational cycles of harm.

The study was based on a mixed methodology, including an analysis of the legal and policy framework, mapping of existing interventions, and the collection of primary data through an online survey completed by 1,129 service providers nationwide, 38 key informant interviews, and 8 focus groups organized across several regions of the Republic of Moldova. This approach enabled a systemic understanding of both persistent gaps and progress achieved.

The conclusions indicate that, although the Republic of Moldova has made important progress in strengthening the normative framework and national-level coordination, the institutional response remains largely fragmented. Interventions are often developed and implemented separately for women and for children, without fully reflecting the interconnected nature of the phenomenon. In this context, the research marks a moment of maturation for the national system for preventing and combating violence and opens a new phase of reconfiguring interventions to respond to the reality in which violence affects women and children simultaneously, ensuring more effective protection for both groups.