The models for the specialized centers for victims of sexual violence in Ungheni and Cahul are in the process of elaboration

In Ungheni and Cahul the representatives of key-services and institutions that usually interact with people who experience sexual violence validated the model service designated for victims of sexual violence.

The workshops for the validation of the service concept took place on the 22nd and 23rd of July of the present year. The discussions were facilitated by Daniela Misail-Nichitin, Executive Director of IC ‘La Strada’, bouncing off from the information collected during the previous activities of the project. This time, in a smaller format, but allowing a sincere and sharp approach to the project objectives, we tried to put on paper the model of a service that, at the moment, does not yet exist in our country.

Every group established where the service can be located, the list of necessary specialists, potential organizations that the crisis centers for victims of sexual violence could collaborate with. Both in Cahul and in Ungheni, different management formats that would ensure the financial sustainability of the services after the end of the piloting stage of the project were evaluated.

In both districts, the working groups suggested that the specialized service for victims of sexual violence is integrated into the infrastructure of the district hospital. In this case, the biggest advantage is the constant availability of emergency medical assistance. This way, the gynecologist and other relevant doctors can intervene promptly at any hour of the day or night. The forensic doctor, criminal investigation officer, lawyer or attorney would then come to the crisis center for victims whenever necessary, as requested by the service manager.

In the near future, the project implementors plan several bilateral meetings with the management of the medical institutions proposed to host the service. The volume of repair works and equipment of the spaces with the necessary infrastructure are due to be evaluated. The appropriate feasibility studies will also be conducted in order to start the dialogue with judicial entities that could take on the management of the crisis centers.

In order not to put an additional burden on the medical staff, the option of managing the newly created service by certain local NGOs with experience in the field of human rights protection was also evaluated. In one way or another, the institution that will implement this service will have to develop the internal regulation and the minimum quality standards, strike collaboration agreements with relevant public institutions in the field, recruit and train staff and ensure the initial accreditation of the service.

Thankfully, the specialized associations and services from the Cahul and Ungheni region proved to be very open and interested in getting local specialists involved in this project.

Women need to be helped. This needs to be the most important motivation for developing this service and taking on more responsibilities that extend the existing services, says Vasile Rotaru, the chief of the Perinatology Center within Cahul Regional Hospital. Half of the women who have given birth to still-born babies in Cahul Regional Hospital were victims of violence at the expense of their partners. But they spoke about it only after the tragedy happened… the opening of these crisis centers for victims of sexual abuse would, in the first place, mean encouraging the women to report the abuse before the tragedy happens.

Polina Panainte, Program Manager, EVA Project, UN Women Moldova, assured the participants to the discussions that the future crisis centers for victims of rape can and should be perceived as resource-centers for all women in the community who at some point may need the assistance services developed here, so not only for the victims of sexual violence. The specialized services for victims of sexual violence would be a development opportunity for the local infrastructure and an impulse for the financial independence of the institutions that would host the service moving forward.

The co-creation workshops were organized by International Center  ‘La Strada’ within the project EVA ‘Promoting gender equality in the Cahul and Ungheni districts’, financed by European Union and implemented by UN Women in partnership with UNICEF, as per the Collaboration Agreement with UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment). The views and opinions expressed here belong to the authors and don’t necessarily reflect the point of view of UN Women, UNICEF, or the European Union.