Sandu Has Promulgated the Law on Ratification of the Istanbul Convention

The Law to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) was promulgated by the country's President Maia Sandu. The Convention was ratified by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova in the final reading on October 14. The deputies of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists, who had repeatedly criticized the document, appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to control the constitutionality of the law, ipn.md reports. The authors of the appeal believe that the purpose of the convention is different from the stated one and completely alien to the beliefs of the majority of Moldovan citizens. According to them, the document contains provisions that “destroy Christian values and traditions”, “promote abortion”, “legalize same-sex marriages”, “desecrate the educational system”. The Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe on May 11, 2011, and the Republic of Moldova signed it in February 2017, but its ratification was postponed several times. According to the authorities, by ratifying the Istanbul Convention the Republic of Moldova joins the efforts to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The State undertakes to allocate resources to ensure the functionality of crisis centers for victims of violence, emergency telephone lines and shelters. The Republic of Moldova becomes the 35th member State of the Council of Europe (out of 47) to ratify this document. Point