Work with abusers became a priority on the agenda of local authorities from Strășeni and Fălești in the context of combating violence, as this is what the new mentorship program supported by the European Union focuses on.

Multidisciplinary teams from Strășeni and Fălești – consisting of police officers, doctors, educators and social service providers – will learn to manage effectively cases where women’s lives and security are in danger; to provide integrated specialised assistance and counselling services to people that commit domestic violence acts, in order to reduce the number of domestic violence cases.

This activity will be implemented by UNFPA Moldova in partnership with the Assistance and Counselling Center for Domestic Perpetrators from Drochia under the regional program ‘Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence’ Regional Program, funded by the European Union and implemented by UN Women and UNFPA.

Members of the multidisciplinary teams will work side by side with the professionals from the Assistance and Counselling Center for Domestic Perpetrators from Drochia, in order to learn to organise individual and group information and counselling sessions for perpetrators, to provide legal advice and to facilitate perpetrators’ access to healthcare, employment, training, resocialisation, etc.

There will be practical sessions as well, where participants will be guided on how to respond jointly to cases of domestic violence and refer domestic perpetrators to specialised services.

‘Work with perpetrators is one of the main building blocks in the prevention of and response to domestic violence. Multidisciplinary teams will be trained on special programs and techniques aimed at working with perpetrators. Aggression can be eradicated only when professionals work with perpetrators. Thus we contribute to a change in perpetrators’ behaviour and to them taking responsibility for the acts of violence’, stated Violeta TERGUȚĂ, UNFPA coordinator of ‘Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence’ Regional Program.  

The first activity related to launching the mentorship program took place recently in Drochia, where members of Strășeni and Fălești multidisciplinary teams went on a documentation visit, to learn more about the specialised services provided by the Center both to domestic violence survivors and to perpetrators.

At the same time, partnership agreements were signed between the Assistance and Counselling Center for Domestic Perpetrators from Drochia and the General Social Assistance Divisions of Strășeni and Fălești to support the successful implementation of the Program.

‘Good working practices were shared both with domestic perpetrators and with domestic violence victims. Our intention behind this program is to build the capacity of professionals from Strășeni and Fălești to respond to domestic violence by providing protection and assistance to domestic violence victims and by referring domestic perpetrators to dedicated services’, said Simion Sârbu, Director of the Assistance and Counselling Center for Domestic Perpetrators from Drochia.

Inga Ciocan, Deputy Head of the Social Assistance Division from Strășeni district said she was truly looking forward to this experience and was very willing to participate in the mentorship program.

 ‘We would like to learn about positive practices in preventing and responding to domestic violence, and replicate them.  Implementing this mentorship program on ways of working with domestic perpetrators and involving the multidisciplinary team will help us prevent violence against women.’

This article was produced as part of ‘Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence’ Program, funded by the European Union and implemented by UN Women and UNFPA Moldova. This Program supports gender equality, addresses perceptions about the roles of men and women in the family and in the society, and is meant to contribute to eliminating gender-based violence.

Contact data for the media:

Ludmila Bogheanu, Communication Officer, ‘Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence’ Regional Program, tel. +37369403016, email: bogheanu@unfpa.org

Photo: @UNFPA Moldova/ 2021