The leader of Moldova’s pro-European ruling party, Dan Persiun, said legislation should be changed to prevent LGBTQ people from being bullied and humiliated.
The leader made the statement after a 16-year-old transgender teenager in Moldova committed suicide due to ridicule and humiliation from his classmates.
“The case of a transgender girl who committed suicide because of bullying by her classmates shows that it is necessary to have a bill against bullying that would hold perpetrators accountable,” Pesiun said.
According to the preliminary investigation of the police, the teenager jumped from the 22nd floor of a residential building in Chisinau. The information about the teenager’s suicide was spread by the Moldovan NGO Genderdoc-M, which serves to strengthen the LGBTQ community in Moldova and eliminate discrimination.
The teenager was a member of Genderdoc-M, a group of transgender and adolescent supporters. The NGO did not specify exactly what became the reason for the transgender girl’s suicide, though the statement said she was a victim of systemic violence because of her gender identity. The statement was soon responded to by the Police Department and the Ministry of Education, who launched an investigation into the case in February.
MP Persucci says sexism, homophobia and aggression are commonplace in Moldovan society.
“We need to do more to make the victims feel safe and the public to get more information on various issues,” he added.
The crime of bullying, defined as psychological bullying, entered the Moldovan Education Code in mid-February.
According to a study by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, 86.8% of students in grades 6-12 in Moldova are victims of bullying.
