Study of the perception on the observance of human rights, 2021 edition, is the third made at the request of the Office of the People’s Advocate in the last six years (similar studies conducted in 2016[2] and 2018[3]) and presents the opinion of the population on observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova. The research focuses in particular on examining the level of knowledge of human rights, perceptions and experiences of the population related to observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The data are supplemented with qualitative aspects from the group discussions with vulnerable categories from the perspective of observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova and the opinions of experts working in the field.
The study conducted on a sample of 1006 people aged 18 and over, the data collection period being 24.12.2020 – 25.01.2021.
The right to health, education and social protection are considered to be among the top three most current and important rights, which require a close attention from society in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, the right to health and social protection, according to the respondents, are among the three least respected rights, along with the right to a fair trial.
More than half of the respondents consider that the children’s and women’s rights are mostly respected in RM, these views registering an increase compared with the previous survey data. The rights of drug and psychoactive substance users, sexual minorities (LGBT), rights of prisoners and ex-prisoners are at least respected. The interviewed experts highlighted the vulnerability of the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region regarding the observance of human rights.
Corruption can greatly affect the observance of human rights in the Republic of Moldova, with this statement agree about 60% of people.
The Children’s right to education in Moldovan schools is considerably affected by the financial possibilities of parents, almost half of the respondents agreed with this statement, only one of four believes that the state ensures all access to education and equal conditions also school graduation offers equal opportunities for students to continue their studies. In the context of Covid-19 and the online school, was highlighted the deprivation of the right to education of children from vulnerable families who did not have access to technology and/or the internet.
Only 1/3 of the respondents consider that the state ensures all equal access to quality health services. Almost 2/3 support the opinion that the economic status of the person affects the right to health care services, and only 1/5 mentioned the agreement with the fact that the health insurance policy allows its holder an adequate level of health services. The interviewed experts emphasized that the problem is not in access to health services, but in ensuring the quality of health services, with huge disparities between rural and urban areas.
Just over half of respondents believe that the right to a healthy environment is respected in the localities where they live, and the worst problems are the lack or poor quality of sewerage systems, followed by the issue regarding waste, water quality, lack of authorized garbage / waste management.
The population right to social protection, assessed by the average size of monetary income, remains to be ensured to a small / very small extent in the Republic of Moldova, an opinion supported by over half of the respondents of the current study. At the same time, it has improved the situation with regard to all income, the share of responses to a small / very small extent decreased significantly compared to 2018 and 2016. Moreover, regarding the protection and realization of the rights of socially vulnerable persons by state authorities, there is a positive dynamic public opinion; the share of respondents who consider that they are poorly protected by the state has decreased compared to previous studies.
The degree of confidence regarding the assurance of the right to a fair trial for different groups of the population remains quite low, the answers regarding the insurance to a very large/a large extent vary between 28-48% in the current study. At the same time, there is a continuous increase of confidence in the judiciary compared to previous studies.
Almost 2/3 of the respondents consider that the right to life, physical and mental integrity is fully / to some extent ensured, from all three aspects evaluated: Against crimes that can affect your life, Against inhuman and degrading treatment, Against torture.
Violation of the right not to be subjected to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of certain categories of persons persists in the Republic of Moldova, and very often / quite often in the opinion of 45% respondents this right is violated in the case of detainees,
40% of respondents believe that the right to information, freedom of opinion and the right to free expression of the journalist are respected, with some tendencies to increase the positive opinion compared to the data of previous studies. At the same time, the perceptions of risk following the free expression are attested, being also increasing in the current study. About 72% of respondents consider that this risk persists in full / to some extent (68% in 2018 and 63% in 2016). More risky is the expression of opinion in relation to the state leadership, politicians, rich people, corruption, less risky – with reference to religion, violations of the environment and human rights.
The pandemic situation has contributed to the worsening of observance of certain rights, especially the right to health and education, but also the right to free movement, meetings, etc.
According to the majority of 2/3 respondents in Moldova, women and men have equal rights, and every fifth respondent considers that the situation of men is somewhat better than the situation of women. Men, young people and the wealthiest also support Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in more pronounced proportions.
The majority of respondents, 8 out of 10, consider that the improvement of the situation in the field of observance of human rights depends largely on the Parliament, Government, ministries and their departments, but also on the mayoralties, on the President of the Republic of Moldova. Compared to previous studies, the share of respondents who consider that the improvement of the situation in the field of human rights depends on state institutions has increased, at the same time being observed a tendency towards diminishing the responsibility of each individual citizen.
It is most commonly considered that human rights are violated by the Government, Parliament, judges, less by church, religious cults. More than half of the respondents consider that human rights are violated both by individuals and by representatives of different institutions.
According to respondents, the greatest attention should be paid to observance of human rights for children, elderly people, women, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and victims of human trafficking.
Mass media is the institution that in the opinion of respondents mostly ensures respect for human rights (40.2% statements), which means that it ensures or contributes best to observance of human rights in Moldova, followed by the country’s president (38.3% ). The lowest assessments were recorded for NGOs with only 25% such answers, by Parliament and judges with about 32% assessments.
There was a reduction in the civic activism of the population, measured by decreasing the share of respondents who said they feel free to participate or carry out a physical or protest action.
The study also shows that the level of information of the population on human rights remains relatively low, with a slight increase compared to previous years, this being at the expense of the urban environment. The least informed remain the vulnerable groups, such as the poor, the lowly educated, the elderly, and the villagers.
Access to information on human rights and information opportunities is increasing, and the development of information technologies has contributed significantly to this. In addition to the media, the Internet has become the second source of information in this area. The bureaucracy of civil servants is one of the major obstacles to accessing human rights information.
2021 07 09
Human Rights Promotion and Communication Department
Tel.: 060002656
[1] http://ombudsman.md/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/DO_raport_raport_OAP-2.pdf
[2] http://ombudsman.md/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ro-raport_do_final_pentru_tipar_1.pdf
[3] http://ombudsman.md/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Perceptii-DO_Romana-1.pdf
