„I fear for my life”

Azur, a little dog with a corkscrew tail is barking with all its might. Auntie Iulia frowns at it. „You are so much like your owner. I should call you Vasile, not Azur. You cannot keep your mouth shut. Quiet! Go to your cage!”, she scolds it harshly. The dog calms down whining.

The old lady breathes with relief. Silence. Finally she has a moment of peace. She sits on the front porch of her house situated in the centre of Moldova and enjoys the silence in her courtyard bathed in June sunlight.

She says it will be warm until September 7th, when her husband will have his electronic ankle bracelet removed and will be back home.

The woman has been calling police on her husband over and over again for 15 years, since domestic violence has started being punished through both civil and criminal proceedings. Besides temporary restrictions, the man has been condemned to prison for six times. On average, he spent one year in jail for each sentence.

„I am not scared reporting him to the police. I can call them anytime. What else can I do? I am sick and tired. He swears at me all the time. Last time, after calling me a slut and a scum for days on end, he hit me bad with a broom. Then he threatened me with an axe. Once, he tried to choke me with a wire rope. I don’t want this life. I want to enjoy living the time left. I have been suffering enough because of him”, the old woman whines.

The data of the Ministry of Interior show that over the past ten years, domestic violence cases doubled. Ten years ago, police recorded about 7,300 complaints, while in 2023 – the number increased up to about 15,200. It means that once in two hours, a victim of domestic violence files a complaint. 

After so many years of psychological and physical torture, auntie Iulia realized that if she reports him to the police, she gains a few months to one year legal protection. „Meanwhile I take a course of medication and recover. I have no other way out. He is extremely aggressive.”

On the other hand, this is the only way the authorities can help her. Although according to the legislation, these two should get help in order to stop the ongoing domestic violence, the truth is that such services exist only on paper. Therefore, their case may turn into a murder.

***

In 2014, Vasile was put to jail for the first time. The judge sentenced him to one-year imprisonment for domestic violence. But, since it was the old man’s first sentence, he pleaded guilty, was fully cooperative with the prosecution, admitted his wrongdoing and promised not to offend his wife anymore, the judge suspended the case while the man agreed “he will not commit another crime. His conduct provided evidence for what he had said”.

In fact, this was not Vasile’s first violation, because half a year before, auntie Iulia had got a protection order against him. The sentenced filed in 2014 was just the start of a number of regular convictions, as often as the rhythm of a Swiss clock.

In 2015, Vasile was condemned for the second time for the same violation – “domestic violence”. He was convicted to 14-month imprisonment, but he was released from jail in less than a year, after the penitentiary administration had asked for his early release.

In 2017, after a huge conflict, preceded by regular fights after which the woman would either spend nights in their neighbours’ house, get death threats, be beaten, pay a fine of 200 MDL or get a protection order, the retiree was sentenced for the third time: 18 month-imprisonment for “having violated the restraining order for domestic violence”.

This time, the penitentiary administration requested to decrease the man’s sentence by one third. Thus, it was summer 2018 when Vasile returned home “with his behavior reformed, appropriate for reducing future crimes”, the Criminal Code states.

In 2019, the man who was almost 70-year-old was sentenced for the fourth time both, for “domestic violence” and “violation of restraining order”. That time, he got one-year-and-a-half imprisonment, but after a short period of time, the 20-month sentence decreases to 6, mostly after the ECHR had identified violations of detention conditions in Penitentiary No. 13.

In 2020, a few days after Vasile had been released from prison, auntie Iulia gets a new protection order. In a few weeks, the man is sentenced for the fifth time. In 2022, he is sent to prison for the sixth time, for 6 months.

Since his last prison release, auntie Iulia has been granted three more restraining orders, while he has got an electronic ankle bracelet. „I do not deserve to be sent to prison each time, but women have got nowadays too many rights…”, Vasile says while smoking.

Nevertheless, the old man keeps drinking, howling and swearing around the courtyard, offending his wife in different ways and even threatened with death. Besides, death threats became more regular each time he came back home from prison, auntie Iulia notes. “He doesn’t give a damn about whether he will be convicted or not”.

„Every evening, before going to bed, I put on the latch from inside. The other door has a lock. I am afraid to leave the door unlocked at night. When he has his ankle electronic bracelet, if he sees me locking the doors, he beats with his fist in the window at midnight, screaming he has the right to live in the house too. When he doesn’t wear his ankle bracelet, I am sleeping in another room, because here I do not have a latch and I am scared”, the old woman confesses.

„I fear for my life.”

***

Angelina Zaporojan, founder of the Women’s Rights Centre, says this case of domestic violence may cause the victim’s death and has all the chance to be one of the femicide (female homicide) statistics in Moldova, a new term introduced in the legislation this summer as an attempt to prevent the high number of cases when women and girls are killed by men.

In 2022, there were about 90,000 women killed intentionally all over the world, which means one woman is killed every six minutes, UN reports show. 23 of them are from Moldova. 

It is a huge number for our country, as compared to the figures with this statistics in Sweden, where the population is four times larger than in Moldova and there is a similar number of femicide cases.  

Long lasting domestic violence phenomenon, associated with other forms of violence, including death threats”, may generate a potential case of femicide, the authors of a national study noticed.

Auntie Iulia and Vasile married 52 years ago. He was born in a poor family with 12 children, where there was a lot of domestic violence. She was born in a family with three children, where she experience domestic violence too. „I saw how my father killed my mother, after having beaten her for years, and I turned to be a parent for my two younger sisters at the age of 16. I think I have her destiny too”, she says with tears in her eyes.

A few months after their wedding, her husband Vasile “showed his true colours”: he started drinking, swearing, fighting and threatening me with death.

There was no law in that period of time designed to protect victims of domestic violence. It was a normal phenomenon and “perceived as a routine”. Therefore, auntie Iulie accepted it, like many other women did. „Be patient. We endure everything. What else we can do?”, her relatives and godmothers would advise her.

When he worked at the kindergarten, he would spend her nights there, until her husband calmed down. After she retired, she would spend the nights either in her neighbours’ house, in the vineyard in front of the house, in her two daughters’ house in the city.

Oameni and Kilometri analyzed most of the cases as of 2023 when men had killed their wives, concubines or a female relative. In over 70% of the cases, as stated in the above study, violence phenomenon was a daily routine in these families. In some cases, men finished by strangling them with a rope or with their hands, by beating them to death or by hitting with some objects such as axes or hoes or even hitting them with a knife 50 times.

Auntie Iulia wanted to divorce many times, but when she told Vasile about her decision, he became more violent and threatened her which made her fear of him even more.

„He told me that, if I do that, he will set the house and all our belongings on fire and we will live in the street. And I think he would have done that. And our daughters asked me to have patience. I have been working a lifetime on our household and now, when I am 72, where do I go if I divorce”, the woman wonders.

***

The same study shows that femicides are committed not only as a result of long-lasting physical violence. There are also cases when women are killed by men who had previously stayed in prison. In 21 cases of femicide recorded last year in Moldova, half of the aggressors had criminal records (52%). Moreover, every fifth of them had been previously sentenced for domestic violence.

„Usually, in most of the domestic violence cases, an aggressor needs to be sentenced just one time, in order to become more obedient, but Vasile is unaffected by a legal conviction”, Mihai Burca, head of District Criminal Investigation Department, concludes.

That fact that a significant number of aggressors have criminal records and become more violent proves that the authorities have failed in protecting victims by applying punishments that do not discourage aggressors’ behavior, which means they do not change their violent conduct at all, prosecutor Mariana Gornea admits.

„All victims have the right to live life without violence. All victims have the right to appropriate protection, a safe environment, including in their family. Therefore, the authorities have the responsibility to take all the necessary measures to guarantee these rights, including by applying more serious and harsher sentences to offenders, in order to reform their conduct and prevent them from committing such crimes again”, Gornea explains.

At least, in Vasile’s last conviction, prosecutor Alexandr Guzic did not agree with the decision of the judge that presided over the first trial, according to which Vasile was sentenced to six-month imprisonment. He went to the Appeal Court and insisted on changing the sentence to one year and six months.

According to the prosecutor, the shorter-term conviction “will not reach its goal, which means it will not change his behavior. Nor will it prevent him from committing the crime again”, given the fact that before that, the man had been condemned many times either for “domestic violence”, or “violation of protection order”. Such circumstances “denote the fact that the convict can commit such crimes again”.

Consequently, “a harsher punishment is caused including by the social danger the defendant presents or by the fact that the aggressor’s victim in all the violence cases he is accused of was a single person – his wife”. But judges from the Appeal Court qualified the prosecutor’s demand as groundless and refused to “change” the initial sentence term.

Lawyer Arina Turcanu mentions that, de facto, aggressors usually can easily get a term reduction because this is what the law states. They just need to request a simplified examination of their case.

„The simplified procedure cannot be applied only in cases when serious crimes, murders or other types of serious offenses are committed. Since Vasile admitted his guilt, regretted his deeds, when his case was examined and he asked for a simplified investigation procedure, although he was sentenced for the sixth time according to 201/1 Criminal Code (article on domestic violence), the judge had to reduce his sentence term by three times. Also, the judge had to take into account that he was 74. Because of this reason, he also had to decrease Vasile’s sentence”, the lawyer explains.

„We requested to exclude the simplified investigation procedure in cases of domestic violence. We have no idea when they will take it into account”, Arina Turcanu states.

***

„I am sick at tired of these sentences. I do not want it anymore. I have been wandering to prison and back for a long time”, Vasile confesses while inhaling the smoke of a cigarette.

With his ankle electronic bracelet, the old man settled into an abandoned house, a distance of 300 metres far from his household. He stayed in the same house this winter too. The man remembers that it was much harder in that period of time, because he needed fire woods. He says in summer he could handle it much easier.

When he was first time sentenced to jail, it was awful, the man says. The he got used. He is already making jokes, saying “he is leaving for the kurort” (a sanatorium – from Russian)”. Even so, he doesn’t want to stay in jail anymore. “You just stay there and do nothing. This is awful. If I go there again, I will stay longer”, the man grinned as if conveying a subtle message.

He barely admits that he often drinks alcohol. “Is there anyone who doesn’t drink nowadays?”, the old man says. “It is not a big deal if I swear sometimes. She gets angry when I drink a glass of wine. Why doesn’t she let me do that? When she sees me getting out of the cellar, she starts yelling again. I do all the work around the house…”, the angry old man says confused.

„He does his work when he is not drunk, I agree. But in most of the cases he drink a lot”, auntie Iulia explains. “When he is drunk, he is insane. You cannot understand how badly he behaves when he is drunk. He starts fighting if I say something wrong”.

Aggressors’ alcohol addiction is also one of the major risk factors associated with femicide in Moldova. 15 out of 21 aggressors (71%) suffered of alcohol abuse last year, when they killed their partners or female relatives.

Although Vasile has been supervised by a narcologist for a long period of time, he hasn’t received any treatment for alcohol use disorder for years. „We cannot force them, and they refuse to cure by themselves, because they do not admit their addiction. We put them on treatment only when they are on delirium”, family doctor Natalia Starostenco explains how things are in such cases.

„Increased penalties, public legal sentences and measures of protection and prevention, the regular work with both, abusers and victims or potential victims, will contribute to preventing and combating gender-based violence and femicide”, the same national study also states.

The analysis of last year femicide cases revealed the fact that, before happening, neither the victim nor the aggressor benefited from specialized services. Moreover, none of the aggressors underwent correctional programs.

The couple from the center of Moldova did not undergo such programs as well. It is true that ten year ago, Auntie Iulia benefited two times from a psychologist’s services, but soon she gave up because she couldn’t afford paying for the bus to get to the district center. Vasile has never attended an Aggression Replacement Training and benefited from an alcohol detox treatment program in Chisinau only once.

This happens because, as experts, studies and statistics show, there are only a few services for victims and aggressors, most of them do not even know about this. Moreover, there is a significant lack of experts, while the existing ones lack training.

Public authorities do not have any daily centre where victims can get psychological consultation, Angelina Zaporojan, founder of the Women’s Law Center, says. „There are only about 10 centres that belong to NGOs specialized in providing support for victims”.

According to European standards, we would need to have per one such centre for 50 thousand women. In relation to the number of women living in the country, there is a need of at least 25 such centres, which means per one centre in each district.

At the moment, there are nine state centres available in Moldova (that would fit only 182 people) out of a total number of 356 centres, as stated in a recent report. „These state centres provide services to a diverse group of people. Most of the services are related to crises, the need of urgent and short-term support for victims of violence”.

The only rehabilitation centre for family aggressors from Moldova is in Drochia. In 2023, 96 people were provided support in this centre.

***

The prevention of femicide cases, as well as domestic violence phenomenon, are strongly related to specialized services that should be available, effective and accessible for victims and aggressors, Daniela Misail-Nichitin, state secretary at the Ministry of Interior, says.

„Because of the low budget we have, at the moment, social and medical care development partners are the ones that could ensure for a short or medium period of time the development of these services, which are extremely expensive. Besides, the biggest challenge is faced by the multidisciplinary team, as its role is crucial”, Misail-Nichitin notes.

Multidisciplinary teams are usually formed of a mayor, social-care expert, policeman, doctors and teacher, if required. They are the ones to play a major role in preventing and protecting victims of domestic violence. They make intervention plans, situation and risk assessment, identify psychic and physical needs of victims and aggressors, decide what services they need and if urgent help is required, an analysis study shows.

But the activity of these multidisciplinary teams is not working properly, Viorica Tambalari, head of the National Agency for the Prevention and Combating of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, concludes.
After analyzing these teams’ activity, the woman concluded that its members do not even know when they need to meet, who should gather them and what they have to do when they meet or when they do not meet. The explanation is as simple and trivial as that: “they are not obliged to do that”. “We plan to train all multidisciplinary teams”, Tambalari promises.

The social care assistant from Iulia’s and Vasile’s village confirms that the couple has been monitored by the local public authorities ever since the woman started calling the police, which is 12 years ago.

„At the beginning, the multidisciplinary team would meet and invite Vasile to the mayor’s office, discuss with him, inform him about violence. We would give him advise, but no effect. He keeps offending his wife and not leaving her alone. Then, some of the team members said: “Why should I speak so much about this old man? I have my own family problems to solve, We do not work on this case anymore”.

To prevent and decrease the huge number of women and girls killed by men, on August 15, 2024, the term femicide was introduce in the Law on preventing and combating domestic violence. „Violence against women, in all its extreme forms, can cause their death, like it could happen in Auntie Iulia’s case”, Angelina Zaporojan, founder of Women’s Law Center, admits.

But the new term in the anti-violence law doesn’t cause any immediate improvement of the situation. Thus, by February 15, 2025, the authorities intend to submit an action plan that would contain clear prevention measures. Even in so, “this plan doesn’t mean that in six months, everything will be implemented”, lawyer Arina Turcanu explains, “it will be just a plan, and unfortunately, cases of femicide that will happen throughout these six months, will not be investigated properly and aggressors will not be punished according to the legislation”.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MLSP) is in charge of the biggest number of measures of prevention in cases of femicide and victims’ protection. Felicia Bechtoldt, state secretary of MLSP, assures that there have already been taken measures in the domestic violence domain.

„In 2024, we hired per one expert in each district who is taking care of all the domestic violence cases in the district and provides the necessary support. All the 10 territorial social care agencies were equipped with a car that is used mainly for domestic violence cases. We are currently training 980 social care assistants on how to deal with domestic violence cases and what services are available in their community. We will invest 133 thousand euros granted by the Council of Europe in a few offices which we identified in the settlements where there are no shelter services and/or daily centers for victims of domestic violence”, the state secretary lists the measures taken by the ministry.

Civil servants and experts confess that the law and the measures of prevention identified this year will give results after some time, without specifying how many years are needed to stop femicide phenomenon.

***

It is a warm day in October. Azur is almost breaking the iron chain and drooling. Vasile looks at him with pride and yells at it from the front of the house, while making a cigarette: “Azur, you are my heart!”

In the morning, he went to the other edge of the village and cut the wild and faded grass on the roadside. He has to complete five of the 45 hours of unpaid work and will be done with the sentence filed after having violated the protection order in summer.

He is back home for a few weeks. He gathered grapes and corn together with auntie Iulia. The wine is already fermenting in the barrel. Everything seems peaceful and well-intended in the retired couple’s life. But Auntie Iulia is still worried and can’t leave in peace looking at her husband with fear. On evening, after having drunk some wine must and a few glasses of wine, he yelled at her loudly that all their neighbours heard him: “I am wandering from place to place because of you and I will hit you with a spade…”

„You know, I need to take it easy, otherwise it doesn’t work. He is always short-tempered. But I told him: do not even try to hurt me or I will call the police. I have no idea how to get out of this bind. I don’t know how everything will end up between us”, the old woman whispers, in order not to be heard.

Vasile is currently waiting for a new trial. „It is a criminal case, f*ck”, he whistles moving his silver mustaches. “I cannot understand, why she is making me be always on the road? Why don’t they sentence me for a long time, or kill me, or…”.

He stares at auntie Iulia with his glassy eyes and leaves the courtyard.

End of the story with a happy update

On March 28^th, 2025, auntie Iulia celebrated her birthday with some relatives and neighbours. Vasile was there too. He drank too much alcohol and, after the guests had left, he became violent. He hit her, then pulled her by the hair and dragged her through the courtyard. Auntie Iulia managed to escape with the help of a neighbor and called 112. The police granted a 10-day restraining order, but they did not take the aggressor out of the courtyard, because “I have nowhere to go” and he was left to live in a shed.

On March 31^st, 2025, at 9:10 pm, Auntie Iulia called reporter Polina Cupcea, begging for help. “Vasile would wander around the house with an axe in his hands and swear he would kill me”. Polina called immediately 112; police interfered, but – after about two hours – only at midday, they concluded that the old man had violated the restraining order. Finally, the aggressor was taken out of the courtyard.

At the same time, Polina published on her Facebook page a post about the late police intervention which put Iulia’s life in danger; the post generated reactions and public pressure, including on behalf of NGOs working in the field of violence against women.

The next day, the reporter went to the local Mayor’s Office together with Auntie Iulia to find out what administrative measures need to be taken. The meeting at the mayor’s office did not lead to any firm decision that would ensure the victim’s protection; the talks involved negative, fault-finding attitude. It was also concluded that there were no immediate effective measures taken.

After having discussed with the lawyer, it was determined that medical-legal evidence was needed to conduct a solid judicial action, and Polina accompanied the victim to the Centre of Legal Medicine to get the report confirming wounds from aggression. In fact, this measure had to be taken by the authorities, but nobody offered to accompany the woman to the Centre of Legal Medicine in Chisinau, which is one-hour drive from the village, although social care assistants from the district, policemen, civil servants from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection had gathered to examine and discuss the case.

After the reporter’s public post, a number of non-governmental organizations – including Women’s Law Centre and National Coalition “Life without Violence” —provided legal assistance and financial support. The assigned lawyer started the procedures on filing the complaint in court and prepared the request for restraining order. The medical-legal report was submitted as essential evidence for the trial. Auntie Iulia was also examined by a neurologist and diagnosed with concussion; the medical conclusion was enclosed to the case, the victim followed an outpatient clinic treatment.

On April 2nd, the judge filed a 40-day protection order. Also, a criminal case was initiated on the aggressor’s name. He was arrested for 72 hours.

After Vasile’s arrest, prosecutors from Calarasi considered them together with the previous ones, that had been ignored by the authorities. Meanwhile, reporter Polina kept posting on her social media pages about this case, informing the public about each phase of the investigation. This transparency determined specialized organizations and civil society to insist on a firm punishment for the aggressor. The case was discussed even in TV shows, which amplified the pressure on institutions in charge.

After two-month long trials, the judge issued a final decision: Vasile was condemned to eight years imprisonment. This means that the old man will be 82 when he will be released from jail.

„This time, Polina Cupcea managed to save auntie Iulia’s life and interfered where authorities did not. But not all victims have Polina to help”, the National Coalition “Life without Violence” commented on this case.

***

It is a warm day in June. Auntie Iulia invited me to visit her in Calarasi. She wants to celebrate our victory. I am counting in my mind and already making jokes, while driving my car to the village: „Oh God, there has been a year since I have been documenting this case and since I have been driving to Calarasi. I will have a residence permit soon. But, I have finally made it”.

When Azur sees me in the courtyard, he is barking and jumping like a tornado. Well, Azur is lashing out even when a fly is touching the tip of its tail.

– This dog doesn’t need too much. He is just crazy. Quiet! Go to your cage, you devil. You are deafening me! Auntie Iulia yells at it from the stairs. She meets me happily while the dog is barking with a wheezy voice.

There is a smell of paint in the house. Auntie Iulia is making repairs. There is a pan full of Moldovan soup on the stove and the table is arranged for a party.

– Polinica, I cannot believe I have finally got rid of this crazy man. After 50 years! Finally, my daughters will come to see me. I will finally have silence. God brought you on my way… You know, I’ve been thinking of something. I have a neighbor who also has a violent husband. I want to teach her what to do not to stand her aggressive husband anymore. I already know what to do”, the woman stares at me with subtlety while having tears in her eyes.

If you are abused or are a witness of a domestic violence incident, call 112.

Also, you can call non-stop the hotline for women at 08008 8008 or the free legal assistance phone line for victims of violence at 0800 80000 from 8am and 5pm.

You can also call any NGO working on providing support and consultation to victims of domestic violence – https://stopviolenta.md

Photo – Polina Cupcea and Mihail Călărășan