Improving service provision for survivors of violence against women in the Republic of Moldova and beyond
Over the last two years, we have implemented TAVAM (Together Against Violence in Moldova and Austria), a project funded by the Austrian Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and which we coordinated together with our Moldovan WAVE Member, the National Coalition “Life Without Violence”. The Coalition is a national umbrella organisation with 27 member organisations working in the field of violence against women and children. The project ran from November 2023 to June 2024 and aimed to strengthen the capacity of Moldovan women’s specialist services and to advance the transfer of knowledge between Austrian and Moldovan organisations working with survivors of violence against women. Now that the project has come to a close, we would like to take stock of what has been achieved, especially how the project contributed to the improvement of service provision for survivors of violence against women in the Republic of Moldova.
From March to December 2023, four trainings were organised in the Republic of Moldova involving experts in the field of violence against women from Austria as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova. Rosa Logar, co-founder of WAVE and former director of the Gewaltschutzzentrum Wien, and Gorana Mlinarevic, feminist activist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, human rights defender and researcher on issues and experiences affecting women, facilitated the first two trainings. These trainings were attended by member organisations of the National Coalition “Life Without Violence” including psychologists, educators, program assistants and managers.
The trainings tackled issues such as feminism and women’s rights, feminist principles for working with survivors, feminist networking and community building, Istanbul Convention standards as well as other legal instruments relating to violence against women in the Republic of Moldova.
In total, 75 service providers participated in these trainings. Three trainings were held in Chișinău and one in Tiraspol, which is part of Transnistria.
Additionally, the third edition of the International Conference on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Girls and Domestic Violence was organised by the National Coalition “Life Without Violence” on October 25-26, 2023, in Chișinău.
The conference brought together women’s organisations working with women and child survivors of violence, authorities responsible for protecting women and punishing perpetrators, media representatives, as well as international and national donors. Over the two days, around 300 participants attended the international conference, which was partially funded through TAVAM. A range of topics were tackled including sexual reproductive education, misogyny, digital violence, feminist standards in providing support to survivors, and feminist funding. On the second day of the conference, WAVE’s Project & Network Coordinator, Léa Dudouet, spoke in a workshop titled “How we grow women’s movements and organisations through feminist funding”.
From January to June 2024, three further trainings were organised with member organisations of the National Coalition “Life without Violence” as well as representatives of state institutions and social workers. A need which was identified during the trainings in 2023 was that of developing minimum quality standards for service providers supporting survivors of violence against women. These standards will be used by member organisations in their services, to ensure that they understand the importance of quality standards and best practices in victim assistance based on the principle of the Istanbul Convention. Topics tackled in the trainings included case management, complaint mechanism procedures for service providers, criteria and internal mechanisms to evaluate the impact and quality of specialised assistance, and internal referral mechanisms and complaints procedures. The trainings provided a space for participants to share experiences and collectively validate the criteria and principles in the minimum standards. In total 47 service providers participated in these trainings. Two trainings were held in Chișinău and one in Tiraspol, which is part of Transnistria.
On June 27-28, 2024, a final meeting was organised in Cahul City (Republic of Moldova) to celebrate the results of TAVAM and present good practices in preventing and combating violence against women.
The event was attended by 25 participants including Mrs. Stella Avallone, Ambassador of Austria to the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Martin Muehlbacher, consultant of the Federal Ministry at the Austrian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, colleagues from the WAVE Network, local women’s groups, local authorities from Cahul, and representatives from member organisations of the National Coalition “Life without Violence”.
During the meeting, the minimum quality standards for assisting survivors of violence, developed in collaboration with five member organisations, were presented. Meeting attendants discussed initiatives which are necessary to prevent violence at the community level, and to encourage women to live free from violence. The meeting included visits to the Agenția Teritorială de Asistență Socială Centru (Territorial Agency for Social Assistance Center), Centrul Maternal Cahul (Maternal Centre, Cahul City), NGO “Ophelia”, and Centrul regional pentru reabilitarea victimelor violenţei în familie, UTA Găgăuzia (Regional centre for the rehabilitation of victims of domestic violence).
The minimum quality standards for assisting women survivors of violence mark an important improvement in the provision of services for survivors of violence against women in the Republic of Moldova. These standards are a first for the country, as there are currently no national regulations concerning standards for services provided by non-governmental organisations, even though they are necessary and form part of the requirements for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention. In the coming years, these standards will help women’s organisations across Moldova provide better services to survivors, ensuring their needs are at the centre of all services.
The guidelines on minimum quality standards in Romanian are available on the website of the National Coalition “Life Without Violence” here. They are also available in English and Russian.
