According to a recent study, survivors of domestic violence in Cahul and Ungheni districts need more extensive support services. Therefore, the organizations in the field have implemented a project strictly based on the needs of these two districts. So that the victims benefit from more social, legal and psychological assistance services.
The Public Association “Artemida” from Drochia, with over 20 years of experience in the fight against domestic violence, shared its experience with colleagues from Ungheni and Cahul. Thus, the Public Association “Clubul Vreau Să Știu” from Cahul and the Public Association for Civic Education “The Future Begins Today” from Ungheni received tools and strengthened the services that help women survivors of domestic violence during nine months. The results of the “Consolidation of gender action in Cahul and Ungheni districts supported by UN Women” project were discussed at the totalization event on December 15, 2022.
Better services for survivors from Cahul and Ungheni
The study “Analysis of the functionality of multidisciplinary teams in Cahul and Ungheni” identified a number of problems in the protection of survivors of domestic violence. For example, victims are not always provided with the necessary services. The cause of this problem is the reduced number of specialists and service providers to provide assistance to these women. There is only one center in Ungheni district, and only two in Cahul. For comparison, in Chisinau we can count over eight similar organizations.
In this context, the specialists implemented a project with the help of UN Women, where the two organizations from Cahul and Ungheni promoted gender equality. They also prevented and combated gender-based violence and domestic violence. Emphasis was placed on the specialized assistance of women and girls affected by this phenomenon. The activities were carried out under the guidance of specialists from A.O. “Artemida”, from Drochia. The organization offers psychological support and placement services for survivors of violence and also has a counseling center for domestic abusers.
“We set out to transmit all the working tools with which our specialists operate, including the social worker, the psychologist, the jurist. The most important was when the specialists went to the territory and worked together with colleagues from Ungheni and Cahul. They were open to discuss any challenge and to be with them in this process”, says Ina Grădinaru, the technical coordinator of the A.O. project. “Artemida”.
“We tried our best to pass on our knowledge and experience. Let them take this information and adapt it to the context of Cahul and Ungheni districts”. The most effective were the meetings based on the concrete cases of domestic violence that they worked on together.
“I don’t want anyone to know”
Lilia Moraru, co-founder of the “I want to know” Club from Cahul, notes an increase in the number of cases of domestic violence in the last three years. This is what made the members of the Club understand that more services are needed for survivors of domestic violence.
A challenging case for the team she is a part of was that of Maria, who came to their assistance after consulting the gynecologist. Her husband sexually assaulted her, and her health suffered.
See Maria’s story here:
Lilia Moraru tells that the woman initially avoided talking about what she was going through, because of fear, because of the prejudices in society. “She didn’t want to go to the police either, because she was afraid. He was ashamed, because he had to go to make statements, to make minutes. She also had a friend in the town, a friend of her husband’s, and she was silent. When we started working with her, she told us: “yes, but I don’t want anyone to know”, explains the specialist.
Within the project, they aimed to provide psychological, legal and social assistance to 25 women. They planned to organize training of multidisciplinary teams in Cahul. Including signing six memorandums of collaboration with some of them. They decided to organize eight discussions to identify victims of domestic violence.
Greater results than proposed
The “I want to know” Club team from Cahul managed to assist 34 women. “We invite them for a coffee, for a heart-to-heart talk. We don’t just focus on the socially-vulnerable blanket. This is how I discovered women and girls who considered themselves happy, with good families, but who were victims of domestic violence. Then the lawyer or psychologist would have separate discussions to confirm. They didn’t want anyone to know. We have guaranteed confidentiality. These meetings, which we used to call soul talks between women, had a very big impact”, says Lilia Moraru. She mentioned that towards the end of the project, some women started coming with their friends, because they realized they had the same problems.
“We had a 73-year-old victim who had the courage to come and say what she was going through,” the specialist wants to emphasize.
Training of multidisciplinary teams
The “I want to know” club organized training for 18 multidisciplinary teams – 16 from Cahul and two from Cantemir. Following these, the facilitators discovered that the members of the multidisciplinary teams were trained separately by domain. But this was never done as a whole. “We come up with the proposal that they be trained jointly, to teach them to work as a team and to apply the law as a team,” suggested Lilia Moraru.
Although initially no activities were planned in the Cantemir district, at the request of the Local Public Authorities, the Club organized workshops. “There was a lack of training, a lack of information and collaboration.” As a result, two memorandums of collaboration were signed between the “I want to know” Club and the Cantemir Social Assistance Directorate, respectively with Lărguța village in the district. During the project, the Club signed 10 memoranda.
Also, what contributed to the successful implementation of the project were the eight advocacy campaigns to prevent and combat domestic violence.
107 counseling sessions were held for the 34 beneficiaries of the “I want to know” Club
The challenges of the Ungheni association
“Five or seven years ago, the woman, the victim of domestic violence, would not talk about her, make her case public. Today, the woman knows that she will have support”, says Simion Sîrbu, the project coordinator. Simion is also the executive director of A.O. “Artemida”. He is aware of stories like Elena’s, the beneficiary of A.O. “The future begins today”, from Ungheni.
Elena lived with the one who raped her, beat her, blackmailed her for 25 years. The woman is safe today thanks to the assistance provided within the organization.
After the implementation of the project in Ungheni, Constantin Stratulat, the president of the association that helped Elena, realized that such services must be provided at the regional level. The training of specialists from the association by colleagues from Drochia gave them courage for grand plans. “We would like to create a resource center for survivors of domestic violence. Because they have a lot of problems, and we are the ones who can guide them. We can offer them psychological assistance, professional guidance and other necessary services,” says the specialist. Among the goals it proposes is the development of a counseling service for domestic abusers.
As a result, five people from the association were trained in the field of assistance and counseling to victims of domestic violence. 25 women and survivors of domestic violence benefited from social, psychological and legal assistance. The association managed to establish partnerships with the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Family Protection Ungheni and with the Police Inspectorate from Ungheni. And last but not least, they managed to repair and equip the center.
Important partnerships
However, until they achieved these results, the Association encountered certain challenges. According to Constantin Stratulat, a big problem for specialists was the identification of victims of domestic violence. “The community social workers helped us a lot.” According to him, Moldovan society is too little informed about the phenomenon and too little condemns it. “As long as we tolerate violence, we will have very low indicators. The world does not realize that accepting violence against women, girls, children, in any context, could show that there is no violence. It means no one knows about her.”
Constantin Potlog, the deputy head of the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Family Protection, Ungheni, was also present at the final event of the project. According to him, 670 employees of the Directorate work in the district. And the organization “The Future Begins Today” has a strong impact in the implementation of the state policy regarding the protection of survivors of violence, Potlog admits.
“There is violence in our communities. The problem we also face is identifying cases of domestic violence, reporting them and how we get involved in a practical way in solving these cases. It is very important to strengthen the capacities of our colleagues, because every year we find that more and more cases of violence are reported. The world is more open, more informed. When she is more informed, she is also more protected”, concludes Constantin Potlog.
“It’s wonderful that we have something to learn from our colleagues, on the spot”
“We appreciate that in such very difficult times, together we manage to promote gender equality, to increase the capacities of specialists”, says Nighina Azizov, program coordinator of UN Women Moldova, about the people who work daily with underrepresented groups, with women, the elderly, children , etc.. Their work is often outside the job description, outside the salary.
The representative of UN Women wanted to emphasize at the final event of the project about the importance of partnerships. “Thanks to EU support, we have the opportunity to exchange experience between local service providers. Because we usually go abroad. But what is wonderful and unique is that we have something to learn from our colleagues, from here on the spot”, says Nighina Azizov, also mentioning the fact that UN Women wants the interventions made in the fight against domestic violence to leave a trail for the communities of the Republic of Moldova.
The project “Consolidation of gender action in Cahul and Ungheni districts” is implemented by A.O. “Artemida”, based on the Collaboration Agreement with UN Women, within the Project “EVA – Promotion of gender equality in Cahul and Ungheni districts”, financed by the European Union and implemented by UN Women, in partnership with UNICEF Moldova. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the European Union.
