Perceptions of the Population of the Republic of Moldova - Soros ...

Perceptions of the Population of the Republic of Moldova on Discrimination: Sociological Study 70Conclusions and recommendationsThe results of the research revealed the fact that the discrimination and the marginalization of certaingroups of people are real issues in the Republic of Moldova, which have increased over the last years. Thus,over 30% of respondents expressed the opinion that in the recent 5 years discrimination has increased.According to population and experts, the most discriminated social groups are the persons with mentaland physical disabilities, the poor, HIV-positive persons, representatives of gay and lesbian community,persons of Roma ethnicity and women.The social contexts of discrimination of these groups vary, but most of them face the discriminationproblem during employment, at their workplace, in education and medical institutions. While in case ofemployment and workplace the basic factors that start the discrimination are the health condition, sexualorientation, age or sex, in case of education and medical institutions the basic factor of discrimination formost social groups is the lack of financial resources.The analysis of social distance between the respondents and the disadvantaged groups of peoplehighlighted a low level of tolerance by the population in particular towards representatives of gay andlesbian community, HIV-positive persons, and individuals with mental disability. The reduced level ofacceptance of the population in relation with these persons is fed to a great extent by the existingprejudices in the society regarding marginalized groups. At the same time, the research confirms ourhypothesis that the diversification of cultural and social relations of respondents with the representatives ofmarginalized groups increases the level of tolerance towards them.In accordance with the research results, more than 1/3 of respondents have been victims ofdiscrimination in the last three years or have witnessed discrimination of other persons. In both cases, theprevailing social contexts of discrimination were the workplace, the domain of healthcare and education.The individuals were discriminated in various ways, but most frequently they have been verbally insulted,thrown out of the office, threatened, intimidated or even physically abused. As abusers, most frequentlywere indicated males that hold an office in public or private institutions. Even the majority of respondentsconsider that the abusers should be punished, over 2/3 of persons witness of a discrimination case took noaction against the, which shows the importance and need of educating the population in this regard inorder to change attitudes and behavior.The expert research highlighted also some practical recommendations directed to diminishing thediscrimination phenomenon among disfavored groups. Thus, in the experts’ view, in order to enhance thelevel of equity of all groups of people exposed to discrimination, following actions are needed:• Harmonization of legislation of the Republic of Moldova with the European norms in the field ofequal opportunities and combating of discrimination; adoption of the Law on Preventing andCombating Discrimination; adjusting the existent legal framework to the respective law anddevelopment of its implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanism.• Active involvement of the community sector, in particular of active NGOs in the monitoring ofthe implementation of the Law on Preventing and Combating Discrimination in view of makingthe central government and the local public administration accountable for the application ofthe provisions of this law.• Establishment of an efficient, proportionate and deterrent sanction mechanism for acts ofdiscrimination and its implementation by bringing charges in court to persons that discriminate,in particular in public institutions, and broad information of the society about these cases andtheir negative effects.• Establishment of an independent institution on national level with comprehensive competencethat will have the objective to provide assistance to victims of discrimination in an independentmanner, so that the latter may exercise general petitions generated by acts of discrimination, andto conduct independent assessment studies about the discrimination phenomenon in thecountry.• Fostering of human rights as a value, on national and local level, in order to build a democraticmentality and to empower and build the capacities of the groups vulnerable to discrimination, inview of their more active involvement in the promotion and protection of their own rights.• Involvement of national and local mass media, in particular of TV channels, in the elimination ofstereotypes and combating of discrimination by promoting a positive image of disadvantaged