The Moldovan justice system is not doing enough to protect victims of domestic violence. Not being protected in time, some of them end up committing crimes themselves, defending themselves from their abusers, and are later convicted and put behind bars.

The topic was discussed at a round table, attended by several representatives of civil society and law enforcement agencies. Participants in the discussion talked about the training that participants should have in investigations and court cases involving victims of sexual abuse and gender-based violence, what victims can do if judges or prosecutors do not take into account a person’s victim status in cases of violence, and what the state should do to prevent situations where victims end up committing crimes.

Victims of abuse are wrongly investigated

Several women are serving sentences in Rusca prison who have been wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit or for crimes of which they themselves are the victims. But their victim status has not been recognised, experts say. This is the case of Anastasia (real name changed to protect identity), a 26-year-old woman who has spent the last seven years behind bars, convicted of pimping. Anastasia is herself the victim of her ex-boyfriend, who forced her to engage in videochat, says Djein Vacari, the journalist who documented her case.

“In my opinion, everything was wrong in this case from the very beginning. The biggest problem is that Anastasia’s status as a victim has not been recognised, neither by the people who prosecuted her, nor by the prosecutors, nor even by the organisation “La Strada”, which works to protect victims of human trafficking. If someone had defended her rights and insisted that she still be treated as a victim, that she at least pass a psychological examination, then perhaps this sentence would not have been reached and she would not have spent seven years in Rusca. There was no one to take her side, but the fact that she is economically vulnerable and Roma probably also played a role,” said Djein Vacari.

According to Vadim Vieru, a Promo-LEX lawyer who assisted Anastasia’s case at the stage of the pardon application, there is a vulnerability in the system that comes from several areas, including lawyers, prosecutors, judges, organisations that assisted.

“There was a chain of errors here. Something went wrong at every stage. I’ll start with the qualification aspect – I don’t think she should have ended up in this case under suspicion for pimping, because she wasn’t recruiting girls, she was involved in videochat. Unfortunately, the prosecutors didn’t take into account all the circumstances of the criminal case that involved her person, but the fellow lawyers also performed poorly. Not to mention the fact that a late appeal was filed. The prosecution stage is also full of shortcomings. Even the judge didn’t have to ask questions. He reproduced the prosecutor’s indictment in the sentence,” Vieru says.

“The tragedy for the human side of this case is very complex. This woman lost a child in prison. The second part is about the victim component, because she really was a victim. Instead of being protected as a victim, she ended up being a convicted person,” Vadim Vieru points out.

From victim to perpetrator

Anastasia’s case is not the only one to highlight the vulnerabilities of the legal system. Victims of violence are serving their sentences in Rusca prison, where they have been left to fend for themselves by their attackers, who failed to protect them in time.

“A few years ago, the Norwegian Expert Mission for the Advancement of the Rule of Law (NORLAM) carried out a study in which they talked to the female inmates of Rusca and assessed the reasons why these women ended up in prison. They identified at that time that about 170 of the total number of women were victims of domestic violence or were in situations similar to Anastasia’s and were not protected at the right time,” Vadim Vieru points out.

Police are said to be insufficiently trained to investigate cases of violence

According to Ludmila Popovici, executive director of the Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture “Memoria”, in many cases police officers investigating cases of violence are not sufficiently trained.

“Police officers often have no trace of a victim-centred or trauma-focused approach. Very often police officers simply side with the perpetrators. It’s a lack of professionalism or a lack of empathy. In some cases it may also be corruption. We had a case two years ago where the policeman supported the perpetrator and even took him to his house for housework. Now that assailant is in prison for attempted murder because he beat his wife badly and attacked her with a knife. Many police officers have no idea what psychological or economic violence means. If it’s blood, it’s trauma, then maybe they act out. If it’s not these physical traces – they don’t do anything,” says Ludmila Popovici.

The expert points out that part of the blame lies with the victims’ lawyers, who don’t do their job, in contrast to the defenders of the aggressors, who, being well paid, are active and persistent.

According to Viorel Cernăuțeanu, head of the General Inspectorate of Police, 70 percent of police officers have completed only 11 grades. “They have no legal studies. Let’s ask the question, why did he stay with 11 grades and not go to college? Possibly, they didn’t have that ability. I don’t want to defend them, but I don’t want to criticize their colleagues who, however, to some extent, make an effort and accumulate such knowledge”, Viorel Cernăuțeanu points out.

However, in recent years the attitude of police officers towards victims of violence has changed, experts say. “I have noticed a big difference in the attitude of police officers compared to previous years. Because there has been a lot of training in this area and a lot of involvement of police officers and I really have seen a change for the better. I have also seen ordinances, restraining orders, and attitude changed for the better,” says Olga Ojog from the Lawyers’ Law Centre.

At the end of March the IGP management issued a guide, an operational procedure for documenting domestic violence.

Social workers also responsible for lack of response to violence

Elena Munteanu, a legal expert at the Association Against Domestic Violence “Casa Mariara”, says that it is not only the police who are to blame for the lack of reaction in cases of violence. “We have had cases where the police only intervened when the doctor’s certificates were brought that the woman had a fracture or when the woman’s relatives insisted on registering the case. But there are several social actors who, according to the law, should report cases of domestic violence. Local mayors, kindergarten and school employees are also responsible, because they are the specialists trained to see what trauma the child is experiencing. Until it gets to the police, it’s the teacher, the social worker, they’re still involved. Nobody wants to take responsibility. Most likely, it is a problem of the whole society that violence has been seen for decades or hundreds of years as a normal matter, including psychological, economic violence,” points out the lawyer.

Lawyer Olga Ojog also says that in the justice chain social workers are very often guilty of being unresponsive. “They are some of the main people who receive applications and referrals. And when you go as a victim and tell the social worker about your case and she says: “You know what? My mother-in-law got beat up, my mom got beat up, I got beat up, but you’re what, you’re out of the ordinary? Nothing happens to you. You go home, you shut up and you wait it out, you’re a woman,” no more addresses this victim.”

“By the time she goes to a competent body, the victim has gone through the circle of violence at least 6-7 times”

Olga Ojog says that victims of domestic violence must be treated with empathy, especially since the victim goes through the circle of violence several times before turning to a competent body.

“When we talk about cases of violence, we are not talking about minor situations. We’re talking about serious situations, when your partner spits in your food every day and makes you eat this food, because he’s the boss and you have to know your place and eat this, wash his feet and drink this water, when he beats you on the head until you can’t hear anymore from this beating on the head. By the time they go to a law enforcement agency, the victim has been through this cycle of violence 6-7 times. It’s not the first time it’s happened,” points out the lawyer.

In some cases, victims of violence do not go to the police because their complaints are not registered. “We have situations where the applications arrive but are not registered through the inspectorate and are thrown away. In other cases, if the complaint is submitted verbally, it does not reach its destination. We have also had cases where the police officer was afraid of the aggressor”, Olga Ojog reported.

Viorel Cernăuțeanu, head of the IGP, disagrees. “Situations where the request is not registered and thrown away I don’t know if they still exist. In today’s intelligence system, any referral is made with an audio or video recording and you can’t throw a request away. The recording is kept. On a monthly basis, the records in the information register 2 are checked against register 1. Every month there is a direct territorial control from Chisinau”, Viorel Cernăuțeanu explains.

Cases of domestic violence wrongly classified as conflicts

Sometimes, experts say, cases of domestic violence are classified as conflicts. “We recently had a case of a lady with three children who went to the police to report a case of domestic violence. The police refused to register the claim, calling the story a conflict with the husband. She went to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to ask for an expert opinion and they refused,” reports Elena Munteanu of Maria’s House.

“Sometimes, complaints are qualified as conflicts, because in their case it is a simpler procedure, which does not entail certain legal actions. At least since I took office, however, I insist that complaints be registered as domestic violence. It’s better not to prove it later than to get away with it and have it somehow get us charged later,” says Viorel Cernăuțeanu.

Victims convicted of crimes against their aggressors are unaware of their victim status

Victims of domestic violence convicted of crimes against their abusers often do not even realise their victim status, says Liuba Jignea-Suveica, deputy director of the National Administration of Penitentiaries. “Denial of the problem makes it very difficult to provide education and counselling interventions that we can do in the prison system. Regrettably, in many cases people who have been identified as victims of domestic violence return to their abuser after release and establish the same relationships,” says Liuba Jignea-Suveica.

Expert recommendations

To close the loopholes in the system that lead to victims of violence being convicted, experts recommend changing legislation, making justice system actors who admit to wrongdoing more accountable and implementing education programmes. “Changes in legislation that would regulate videochat are needed. In the laws of European countries, if not legalised, videochat is classified as pornography, not prostitution. I also think that the lawyers from the House of Mirjana should make more visits to Rusca so that there is more information on this segment. There should be courses for policemen to explain to them what are the markers that signal that a person is a victim, and any jokes made about victims of violence should be penalised,” says journalist Djein Vacari.

“In the legal profession, we have very big problems with quality. Lawyers who commit professional malpractice must be held accountable,” says Vadim Vieru.

“Victims need to be identified early and treated properly, because we have seen many cases where victims have been virtually silenced because of this dysfunctional chain of justice,” says Ludmila Popovici.

Olga Ojog believes that changing the attitude of every element would change the whole system. “We need to get rid of hand-washing once and for all. Besides, we have to understand the psychology of the victim very well – if we don’t understand how she thinks, we will never be able to help her,” she says.

“I think a big problem starts with education. It has to be done with young children from school, so they know their rights, how not to become victims or aggressors. The system could get involved in this issue, because it is essential”, says Elena Munteanu.

“In order to prevent violence against women, the state should adopt measures that would raise public awareness, ensure victims’ access to justice and compensation for moral damage”, says Liuba Jignea-Suveica.

Lawyer Ion Guzun, who previously held the position of chairman of the Commission for the Pardoning of Convicted Persons of the Presidency of the Republic of Moldova, believes that each professional on whom the advice, word, involvement or signature depends should take decisions, and Viorel Chernăuțeanu believes that things in the system will change when each institution will ensure a correct documentation process, but believes that the authorities must work first of all on prevention.

This article was made possible thanks to the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content of this article is the responsibility of the Guardian and does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.