Moldova: Domestic Violence, Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation

Sources state that women who are victims of domestic violence in Moldova are vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking (AFP 25 Nov. 2010; see also IOM 2009, 9). Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that over 70 percent of women and girls who were trafficked from Moldova were victims of domestic violence (25 Nov. 2010). According to the IOM report, over 90 percent of women assisted by IOM and La Strada were victims of domestic violence prior to being trafficked (IOM 2009, 13). The report of the UN rapporteur indicates that Moldovan women were trafficked to more than 30 countries in Western Europe, the Middle East, the United States, South Eastern Europe, Russia and other former Soviet Republics.

Moldova adopted the Law on Preventing and Combating Family Violence in March 2007, which came into force on 18 September 2008 (Moldova 2007). The law defines different types of violence, such as family violence, which includes physical, sexual, psychological, spiritual and economic violence (ibid., Art. 2). In this law, sexual violence includes marital rape (ibid.). It names the authorities and institutions responsible for preventing and combating family violence, such as the Ministry of Social Protection, Family and Child, the Ministry of Education and Youth, the Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Local Public Administration, and the Ministry of Justice (ibid., Art. 7). The law specifies the role of centers for the rehabilitation of victims of family violence, which can be created by government or public administration authorities, or by international organizations or NGOs (ibid., Art. 10). The law provides a possibility for third parties to submit a claim of family violence (ibid., Art. 12). According to the law, there is no charge for the submission of domestic violence claims to the court (ibid., Art. 13). The claims can be submitted to the following organizations:
  • To the administrative bodies of the interior;
  • To the court;
  • To the department of social assistance and family and child protection;
  • To the local public administration authority.
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