Moldova: statistics on domestic violence and new law on femicide
Moldova revises statistics on reports of domestic violence and introduces the crime of “femicide” into law
07.04.2026
Article published on the infotag.md website
During a forum to discuss preventing and combating violence against women, Doina Gherman, Deputy Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, announced that the number of reports from victims of violence, including domestic, to the authorities is rising in the country.
INFOTAG reports that during the conference in Chisinau, Gherman stated that the number of domestic violence reports rose to 23,727 last year, compared to 15,976 in 2024 – an increase of 7,800 cases.
“The rise in the number of reports reflects growing public trust in the institutions of authority, but which in turn demands responsibility and proactive action”, said Gherman.
She explained that “legislation already covers all forms of violence – physical, sexual, economic, digital and psychological, and that in the coming weeks amendments would be made to the Criminal Code to introduce a separate crime of “femicide”.
“Femicide will help prosecutors and the police to classify offences correctly, collect accurate data, prove gender-based motivation and impose harsher penalties. The legislation will give investigators clear tools to identify gender-based motives and prevent tragedies from happening”, she said.
She added that prevention begins long before the first call to the police – within the family, at school, in the community – and that combating this scourge is the responsibility of every citizen.
The Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Christina Gherasimov, stated that for any democratic country, the protection of human dignity and fundamental rights is the foundation of society. In Moldova, violence, including domestic, against women remains a social and legal problem that requires the joint effort of the authorities and every citizen.
“In recent years, the country has taken concrete steps to combat all forms of violence: the institutional framework for gender equality has been strengthened, specialists have been trained and services created for victims where they are listened to and protected. We continue to work on improving data collection tools and evaluate Government policies so that we can intervene in a more targeted way. Our journey to the European Union will be over when we are able to build a society in which the home is a safe space for all its inhabitants”, said Gherasimov.
