Legislation is needed to punish parents who maltreat children

January 26, 2010

Comment: On February 26th a roundtable meeting was in Chisinau by the Ombudsman for children’s rights Ms. Tamara Plamadeala. Many key actors from the child protection field (NGO “Woman and Child – Protection and Support”, Center for Psychosocial Assistance to Child and Family “Amicul”, Information and Documentation Center for Children’s Rights, etc) got together in order to discuss the need for a national legislation to ease identification of child abuse cases, Info Prim Neo reports.
It should be mentioned, that violence against children is a widespread problem in Moldova. It happens in the families, on the streets and even in the schools. A study in 2004 performed by the Moldovan Government, in cooperation with UNICEF, found that one in five parents threatens his/her child with a beating and one in four beats their child . The same study showed that 86% of parents believe that beating children makes them obey and respect them.
Many parents resort to violence because of the existent tradition to educate children through beating, and because of the lack of knowledge about the non-violent methods of child education. Some children accustomed to an education ‘with a backhand’, do not consider beating as a violation of their rights, especially if they are punished by their parents and relatives. Even parents do not recognize that beating affects the normal development of their children. In 2000-2001, the National Study on Early Child Development studied the methods used in disciplining children and the convictions of parents regarding abusive methods of child discipline.
When asked – what do they do, when children do not obey, two out of five parents (39.6%) admitted to beating them with their hands, with 52.4% threatening children with a beating or other punishment. In two-parent families, children were more frequently beaten by mothers than fathers (47.9% compared with 27.8%). Over half of the parents (56.4%) acknowledged that beatings do not solve anything, and only 15.5% reported considering that what they do is right .
The situation is also difficult in the schools. Teachers often punish children. Research in 2005 and 2006 revealed that teachers in Moldova support the use of corporal punishment for children for a variety of reasons: petty theft (67% of respondents), drinking alcohol (60.9%), telling lies (49%), not coming home on time (49%), missing classes (49.7%), smoking (47.7%) and not obeying their parents (40.4%) . Parents and teachers do not understand that child abuse humiliates children, undermines their self-confidence and shakes their faith in people and the future.
Moldovan Government, as well as civil society, are concerned about the problem of child abuse and violence and are taking measures to prevent and counteract it. The new Article 53 of the Family Code covers “the right of the child to be protected” and states in paragraph 4, that the child “has the right to be protected against abuses, including corporal punishment by parents or persons who replace them”. Article 62 concerns parents’ rights and states in paragraph 2 that “methods to educate children, chosen by parents, will exclude abusive behavior, insults and ill-treatments of all types, discrimination, psychological and physical violence, corporal punishment …”.
However, these important regulatory steps are not enough to assure Moldovan children’s happier childhood.
In the light of it, the Ombudsman for children’s right Tamara Plamadeala called all national NGOs in child protection to work together and formulate a plan of action for easier identification of child abuse cases. She also mentioned that statistical data do not show the real situation as many children are afraid to report cases of abuse or they don’t know where to report them.