Moldovan Parliament is committed to fight violence against women and girls

On the launch of the 16-days Campaign on November 25, the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Andrian Candu, opened the plenary session with a speech announcing the solidarity of the Moldovan Parliament with victims of gender based violence.

The Common Dialogue Platform of Women MPs, established in 2015 with support from the UNDP and the Government of Sweden, called for actions to end violence against women and girls: “As women MPs, along with the men MPs shall promote bold standards aimed to prevent and eliminate violence, taking into account the European Court of Human Rights case law. We shall enhance the application of Parliamentary oversight tools in order to ensure the continuous monitoring over the implementation of legislation adopted in the field of preventing domestic violence and securing a high degree of safety for all victims of violence.”

At the same time, staffers of the Parliament Secretariat of whom 2/3 are women have also joined the campaign, and will be engaged in a series of actions in solidarity with the victims of violence.

In the evening of November 25th, the Parliament building will be lighted in orange – the colour of the campaign, symbolising Hope and a Future free of violence for all girls and women.

With the ”16 days of activism against gender-based violence” campaign, the UN aims to mobilise central and local public authorities, civil society, women and men to participate actively in preventing and fighting violence against women and girls and domestic violence.



In Moldova, seven out of ten women in rural area and six out of ten in urban area have suffered from at least one form of spousal/partner violence over their lifetime. About 12% of Moldovan women were subject to all types of violence – physical, sexual, psychological, economic and spiritual. In 2015, 36 women were murdered, while more than 80 women were severely injured as a result of violence.

Despite this horrific statistics, violence remains yet tolerated in the Republic of Moldova. About 41% of men and 19.1% of women agree, fully or partially, that there are moments when a women deserve to be beaten, while 27.7% of men and 17.5% of women population think that a woman should tolerate violence in order to preserve the family.

The Republic of Moldova has committed to end violence against women by ratifying the UN Convention on the Elimination of all types of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and passing the Law on preventing and fighting domestic violence. Recently, the Moldovan Parliament adopted Law No. 196 dated 28 July 2016, which brought a complex package of measures aimed to ensure a high degree of safety to the victims of violence. Thus, the new legislation introduces provisions for the use of a 10-day emergency restraining order during which the aggressor is immediately removed from the family home.

An imperative for the Moldova remains the signing and ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). This is the most comprehensive International Treaty recognising violence against women as a violation of human rights and as a form of discrimination.

The UN Agencies in Moldova support the Government in revising and strengthening the legal framework in the area of preventing and fighting violence, creating services and multidisciplinary teams to provide support to the victims of violence, training the teachers, physicians and Police staff to recognise the signs of abuse or violence and to take actions after detecting such signs.

UNDP has mobilised funds from the Government of Liechtenstein, Sweden and EU to build in Transnistria region the only shelter for victims of domestic violence.