{"id":122,"date":"2014-01-17T15:29:25","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T20:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/socialworknetwork.wordpress.com\/?p=122"},"modified":"2014-10-07T11:16:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-07T15:16:32","slug":"lgbt-rights-in-moldova-staff-at-gender-doc-breaking-new-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/2014\/01\/17\/lgbt-rights-in-moldova-staff-at-gender-doc-breaking-new-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"LGBT Rights in Moldova- Staff at Gender Doc Breaking New Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image\"<\/a>

We happened to visit on the Director’s Birthday!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our\u00a0Study Abroad group has come across some amazing work being done here in Moldova.\u00a0 The NGO\u00a0“Gender Doc” is no exception.\u00a0\u00a0Since 1988\u00a0the staff of Gender Doc <\/a>have been working towards the goal of “social\u00a0integration” for\u00a0LGBT individuals\u00a0across every\u00a0part of\u00a0Moldovan society.\u00a0\u00a0They provide an array of services and programs, i.e.\u00a0outreach, working to raise awareness, providing a safe space, support groups for parents, and much more.<\/p>\n

What I found most\u00a0impressive was\u00a0the organization’s efforts and successes in achieving justice for victims of human rights abuses and the work they have done to move forward key legislation.\u00a0 For example, Gender Doc\u00a0lobbied\u00a0 for and helped to draft the\u00a0first-of-its-kind Anti-Discrimination Law in Moldova.\u00a0 They have also successfully leveraged the power of the\u00a0European Court of Human Rights<\/a>\u00a0in relation to a number of\u00a0cases of human rights abuse.\u00a0 The European Court intervenes when no justice has been found within a state after all local mechanisms have been exhausted.\u00a0 In one instance, the Court found Moldova guilty of discrimination\u00a0for blocking the group’s Gay Pride Parade from occurring in the center of the capitol city.<\/p>\n

When attempting to understand the barriers LGBT individuals face here, one must consider some very complex factors, i.e. the\u00a0legacy of Soviet rule, the very high level of “internalized homophobia”, and even the political choices the country is struggling with currently.\u00a0\u00a0Should Moldova persist in efforts to join the European Union?\u00a0 Interest in joining the Union has helped to move forward key legislation such as the Anti-Discrimination Law mentioned above.\u00a0\u00a0Not everyone in Moldova supports joining the Union, however, and\u00a0those\u00a0opposed to gay rights\u00a0say that it is this effort that has helped to\u00a0“legitimize homosexuality”.<\/p>\n

It is a complicated political landscape here…which I hope to convey in an upcoming post.\u00a0Those working for democratic reform and advocating for the rights of vulnerable populations have a lot at stake with an upcoming election that is fast approaching.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Gender Doc staff are truly helping to break new ground here in Moldova, and\u00a0we applaud their\u00a0work!<\/p>\n

See Amnesty International Report on Gender Doc march: Historic Gay Pride Parade in Moldova<\/a><\/p>\n

For a listing of human rights violations by European states, including the Republic of Moldova, see:\u00a0European Court of Human Rights:\u00a0 Violations by State\u00a0<\/a>http:\/\/www.echr.coe.int\/Documents\/Stats_violation_1959_2012_ENG.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our\u00a0Study Abroad group has come across some amazing work being done here in Moldova.\u00a0 The NGO\u00a0“Gender Doc” is no exception.\u00a0\u00a0Since 1988\u00a0the staff of Gender Doc have been working towards the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,17,21,22,26],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-work-2","tag-lgbt","tag-republic-of-moldova","tag-social-welfare-institutions","tag-social-work","tag-ub-school-of-social-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions\/276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/swfield\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}