Alternative/shadow Report on Women’s Rights in Moldova Presented at the 56th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 30 September – 18 October 2013 The working group for women’s rights in Moldova 1/1/2013 0 Foreword This report has resulted from the hard work of a group of people, dedicated to the elimination of women discrimination. Representatives of different risk categories, Roma women, women victims of domestic violence, LBT women and other categories met in different working sessions and shared personal experiences as victims of discrimination. The obtained information was processed, structured and included in the given report. The report was put together and finalised by Ms. Olesea Perean, Jurist, Human Rights Expert. The working group would like to convey its gratitude to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova and personally to Mr. Claude Cahn, Human Rights Advisor, Anna Lungu and Alina Grigoras, National Human Rights Consultants for their efforts in the organisation of group’s working sessions, report compilation as well as for the support provided. The report’s content and conclusions do not represent the opinion of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova. 1 Table of Contents Introduction The CEDAW standards in the Republic of Moldova are an incursion in the evolution of the process of fight against discrimination phenomenon in the Republic of Moldova. Chapter I Women empowerment in the Republic of Moldova 1. Women’s advancement in eligible positions 2. Observance of the right to be employed 3. Gender violence (domestic violence) and the impact of this phenomenon on women Chapter II Access of women to medical services in the Republic of Moldova 1. Discrimination of women with disabilities 2. Discrimination of HIV/AIDS- infected women Chapter III Specific risk categories of women vulnerable to discrimination 1. Discrimination of Roma women 2. Discrimination of LB T women, sex workers and young girls Conclusions 2 Introduction The CEDAW standards in the Republic of Moldova - an incursion in the evolution of the process of fight against discrimination phenomenon in the Republic of Moldova. The adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted on 18 December 1979 by the UN General Assembly has became an innovation in dealing internationally with the right of woman to not be discriminated, to have equal rights with men and to enjoy guarantees for her personal development. 1 The Republic of Moldova ratified the Convention on 28 April 1994 ; along with its ratification, the State has assumed the obligations t o ensure the observance of its provisions. Despite the ratification of the Convention in the ‘90s, the concern of the Moldovan Government regarding the actions aimed at ensuring the equality of women is relatively new, but is not a systematic and comprehensive one. In this way, in order to ensure equal exercise of rights by women in the political, economic, educational, health and other areas of life in order to prevent and eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination, the Law on Equal Opportunities of Women 2 and Men was adopted only in 2006 . The Law tr ies to enhance equal access of women and men to public functions in the management bodies , applying to hold certain positions in the electoral rolls , and at the same time, the Law provides for a list of socio - economic obligations, in particular in the employment field, and describes some obligations of the employer. Nevertheless, the Law has a declarative character and is not applied effectively , because it lacks an implementation mechanism. In order to make the Law more practical, there were 3 adopted the National Program me on Ensuring Gender Equality for 2010 - 2015 , and the Action Plan for Program Implementation for 2010 - 2012 , which includes the actions that have to be implemented in the 8 identified problematic areas. The implementation of the actions included in these strategic documents is revised periodically by drafting monitoring reports . A lthough in most cases, the concrete actions from the policy documents are listed as implemented or partly implemented, the Rep ublic of Moldova registered considerable delays in the implementation of viable policies on ensur ing women ’s equality, non- discrimination and empowerment. In this way, Moldova has outlined a number of risk groups of women that are systematically subject to discrimination and are treated differently. At the same time, although according to the Government reports submitted to the civil society, women empowerment actions are implemented and considerable achievements are invoked in this regard, these results are isolated, and not systemic. 1 Ratified by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Decision No. 87-XII of 28 April 1994 2 Law No.5-XVI on Ensuring Equal Opportunities for Women and Men of 9 February 2006, published on 24.03.2006, Official Gazette No. 47-50 3 Approved by Government Decision No.933 of 31 December 2009 3 In the same context, it is worth mentioning that despite the adoption of the 4 Law on Enforcement of Equality on 25 May 2012 , wh ich main purpose is to establish a Council for the prevention and elimination of discrimination and ensuring the equ ality that would sanction directly the discrimination actions, includ ing gender - based discrimination , the abovementioned Council has not been e stablished until May 2013, and the establishment date cannot be forecasted. Th is report will try to describe the existing situation in the field of ensuring equal opportunities for women and men in the Republic of Moldova. The reports developed within the working group , attended by representatives of risk groups subject to discrimination , were compiled into this general report . Taking into consideration that the report was developed with the participation of the risk groups representatives, the inform ation contained in the report can be qualified as being from the first source. 4 Law no. 121 on Enforcement of Equality of 25 May 2012, published on 29.05.2012 in the Official Gazette No. 103 , in force : 01.01.2013 4 Chapter I Women empowerment of the Republic Moldova 1. Promoting women in eligible positions According to Articles 7 and 8 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter referred to as the Convention), the States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right: ... b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government;”. Article 8 gives the women, on equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations. In the 2011 local elections of the Republic of Moldova, according to the statistical data, only 18 per cent of candidates were women, by 3 per cent less than the average rate of female candidates during the 2007 local elections. It is obvious that the State does not fulfil its obligations to ensure to women the right to participate in the political and public life of the Republic of Moldova. The women try to mobilize their efforts with a view to defend and protect their rights. During the international Conference “Gender Equality for a Sustainable Society” held in Chisinau on 20 November 2012, the participants established the need for a higher involvement of women in the political life and thus to reduce the discrimination by men. According to the statistical data, in spite of the European path embraced by the Government established after 2009, during the communist government, up until 2009, there were more women advanced in politics and decision-making positions than afterwards. Women members of parliamentary parties are discriminated when getting into the Parliament; even if on the party lists there is a considerable number of women, they do not get into the Parliament, because these are placed on lower places, so that they do not become Members of the Parliament. In the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova there are only 20 women out of 101 Members of the Parliament. Most women in the Parliament represent the Communist Party. Eight out of 36 communist deputies are women. The Liberal Democratic Party has four women deputies out of the total number of 31 deputies. The Democratic Party is represented by three women, and the Liberal Party by only two women. There are three women among the seven non-affiliated deputies. The women accept tacitly these conditions, being treated with inferiority by their colleagues men from the party and de facto, have no decision making power in the political party. Currently, there are no women with decision making power in Moldovan politics. Women are not promoted into high state dignity positions. There were only two female ministers and 18 men in the Filat Government in 2009 – 2013. There are 4 female ministers in the Leanca Government of 2013. 5 The women are under-represented in the politics and are virtually absent from the party top positions. There is only one woman in the leadership of Liberal Democratic Party – the Deputy Chairman Liliana Palihovici. Same thing is in the Liberal Party, with a single woman as Deputy Chairman. The Democratic Party has no woman in the leadership, and the first woman in the hierarchy is the Secretary of the parliamentary fraction. The Republic of Moldova has never had a woman President. The existing situation is due to the stereotypes that persist in the society and are not eliminated through public policies or campaigns. Question to the Republic of Moldova: • What measures have been undertaken to eliminate the stereotypes regarding the role of a women in the society and promotion of women in the political life? Country-specific recommendations : • To set a mandatory share of 48 percent of women to be included in the electoral l ists, out of which at least 20 women should be on the first 40 places; • To institute the share of 40 percent of women, which can become Ambassadors and Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Moldova; • To develop programmes and awareness campaigns against stereotypes regarding the role of women in the society and family. The mayor position in the local public authorities is held mostly by men. Thus, there are only 166 female mayors out of 897 mayors elected in the localities of the Republic of Moldova. The Liberal Democratic Party is represented by 52 women - mayors, Communist Party – 46, Democratic Party – 39, and Liberal Party – 15 women as mayors. In 2012, during the elections to the Popular Assembly of Gagauzia, only 29 out of 165 candidates were women, and only one got into the respective institution. During the 2011 local in Gagauzia, there were only a couple of women candidates to the position of mayor, but none was elected. Currently, only one woman works in the Executive Committee of Gagauzia. The Republic of Moldova lacks the institutional policy framework in the field of women empowerment; there is no unitary programme at state level to prepare women for decision-making positions and to be elected in eligible positions; programmes that would be implemented and would be open for girls-adolescents. 6 Question to the Republic of Moldova: • What measures have been undertaken by the State in order to empower the women, to train them to become opinion leaders , managers at local and central levels? Country-specific recommendations : • To develop and implement a national women empowerment programme in the Republic of Moldova; • To implement programme actions in towns and villages, but in particular in the rural areas, so that women from rural areas or outside the capital city can benefit of the measures to be proposed under the programme. 7 2. Observance of the right to be employed Article 11 of the Convention shall provide the State with all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment. The law of the Republic of Moldova consists of norms that grant the right to work 5 and forbid discrimination in the field of labour/employment . One of the factors that condition the discrimination in the field of employment is the economic crisis. W omen account for 53.5 percent of the inactive population 6 in the national economy, whilst t he men account for 41 . 6 per cent . Because of the economic crisis that has been felt in the Republic of Moldova, the managers of small enterprises are not interested in spending their resources and time to teach or train their employees. In particular , the employers are no t motivated by the State to promote women in higher positions or hire women when they apply for the same position as men. A woman who used to be a housewife for some time has no possibility to legalize this type of work . House work cannot be included in the overall employment history . According to the data of the National Employment Agency, the number of official employment application s has decreased. If a woman did not find a job as long as she was registered with the E mployment Office, she is transferred to the informal sector of the economy , where she is assumed to work unofficially or is supported by the relatives while taking care of the family and household. This experience cannot be included in the employment history . One of the solutions would be, in this case, for the women to carry out their own business, but there are no programmes and legal norms to train women in the field of business entrepreneurship. The prevalence of the private sector in the national economy leads to difficult control over the observance of the norm s in the field of the right to work/ employment and to a limited number of jobs, in particular jobs that require 5 Art. 43 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, adopted on 27 July 1994, published on 12.08.1994 in the Official Gazette no. 1, date of entering into force on 27.08.1994, stipulates: The Right of Working and of Access to Work (1) Every person has the right to freely choose his/her work, and to benefit from equitable and satisfactory working conditions, as well as to be protected against unemployment. (2) All employees have the right of work protection. In this respect the protective measures will bear upon work security and hygiene, working conditions for women and young people, the introduction of minimum wages across the national economy, the weekly period of rest, the paid holidays, difficult working conditions, as well as other specific situations. (3) The length of the working week shall not exceed 40 hours. (4) The right of collective bargaining is guaranteed, and so is the legal enforceability of collective agreements. 5 Art. 44 stipulates: Prohibition of Forced Labour (1) Forced labour is prohibited. (2) Not to be regarded as forced labour are the following: a) military -like duty or the activities designed to replace it, carried out by those who under the law are exempted from compulsory military service; b) work done by a convicted person under normal conditions, in custody or on conditional release; c) services such as required to deal with calamities or other dangers or as considered under the law to be a part of normal obligations of civilians. 5 Art. (6) of Labour Code, No. 154 of 28.03.2003, published on 29.07.2003 in the Official Gazette no. 159-162 stipulates: Non-restriction of labour rights and labour freedom (1) Labour freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. (2) Every person is free in choosing the workplace, profession, occupation or his activity. (3) Nobody, during his life, can be obliged to work or not work in a certain place or hold a certain profession, regardless of whom they are. (4) Any legal document concluded with failing to respect the provisions of the paragraphs (1), (2), (3) is null. Art. (8) of the Labour Code stipulates: Prohibition of discrimination in the field of labour (1) In the framework of the labour relations shall operate the principle of equality in rights of all employees. Any direct or indirect employee discrimination based on his gender, age, race, ethnicity, political option, social origin, residence, handicap, HIV/AIDS status or trade union activity, as well as other criteria not related to his professional qualities, shall be prohibited. (2) Establishment of some differences, exceptions, preferences or employees’ rights, determined by the specific requirements of a certain work, established by the legislation in force, or by the state special care towards persons requiring an increased social and legal protection, shall not represent discrimination.. 6 According to the data of National Bureau of Statistics placed on www.statistica.md 8 7 medium and high qualification of the employee. According to the statistics , as of 31.12.2012, the demand for specialised secondary education a nd high ly educat ed candidates accounted for 16 percent of the total number of offers. This determines the employees to agree on any kind of job in order to gain a minimal income . Question to the Republic of Moldova : •What measures have been undertaken by the State to ensure non-discrimination of women with regard to the right to access to the labour market apart from the legal norms that stipulate the right to non-discrimination in the field of employment? Country-specific recommendations : • To impose a mandatory quorum of employed women within large enterprises and authorities and motivate private entrepreneurs to hire the required number of women. Many women who lost their job get employed in the informal sector of the 8 economy . This factor leads to lack of protection and low salaries. The salaries received in the informal sector are not reflected in the official papers. Sanitary and labour protection norms are not completely or generally observed and t he working hours are increased without additional payment or additional day s off . Question to the Republic of Moldova: • What are the protection instruments instituted by the State to protect the rights of women, who were employed unofficially/ in the informal sector of the economy? Country-specific recommendations : • To institute a legal mechanism through which the unofficially employed women could, however, benefit of the right to include the unofficial job into the employmnet history. 7 www.statistica.md 8 According to the data of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family 9