With the support of the Project “Supporting the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the Republic of Moldova”, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection convened the Working Groups on „Prevention” and „Protection” Pillars of the Council of Europe Convention for preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) implementation to analyse the state of play on the progress in implementation of the Istanbul Convention provisions, including on the gaps and challenges existing on these pillars in the field of violence against women and domestic violence.

Articles 12 to 17 of the Istanbul Convention related to Prevention Pillar, as well as Articles 18 to 28 related to Protection Pillar have been analysed through the lens of changes needed in the legal framework but also at the level of practical measures in line with the Istanbul Convention explanatory report as well as outlined the existing challenges and barriers in implementation.

The discussions revealed on the need to engage more actors in the on-going analysis and discussion – the national human rights and gender equality institutions, private sector, local authorities, trade unions and employers’ unions. The members of the Working Group will finalize the analysis and come up with the next steps for further improvement and progress on the respective pillars.