Comparative analysis of minority women rights protection in Moldova and Ukraine in the light of the international human rights standards

Abstract

The current research ‘Comparative Analysis of Minority Women Rights Protection in Moldova and Ukraine in the Light of the International Human Rights Standards’/ «Մոլդովայում և Ուկրաինայում փոքրամասնություն կազմող կանանց իրավունքների պաշտպանության համեմատական վերլուծություն մարդու իրավունքների միջազգային ստանդարտների հիման վրա։» / «Сравнительный анализ защиты прав женщин из числа меньшинств в Молдове и в Украине через призму международных стандартов в области прав человека» explores the extent of policy protection of minority women rights in Moldova and Ukraine, comparatively analyses the correspondence of the national legal frameworks of these countries with the international standards in the field of minority women protection, and justifies the necessity to study this field in Moldovan and Ukrainian context. For these purposes the situation with minority women protection in Moldova and Ukraine has been briefly analysed, standards and recommendations of the international human rights mechanisms have been studied, the policies and legislative frameworks in this field have been analysed on a comparative basis, and the issues of their correspondence to the international standards have been explored. The research has led to the following conclusions: 1) Minority women in both, Moldova and Ukraine, experience multiple forms of discrimination and marginalization, making them one of the most vulnerable social groups; 2) International human rights mechanisms provide a moderate body of standards and recommendations to guide national policy-making in Ukraine and Moldova; 3) The national policy frameworks in Moldova and Ukraine with few insignificant exceptions miss the minority women perspective in planning, programming, and regulation, leaving this particular social subgroup basically unaddressed, despite their international obligations; 4) Both states strongly need to harmonize their policy and legal frameworks with the international human rights standards and recommendations concerning minority women, and subsequently implement them effectively; 5) National strategies and laws have to be based on gender and minority disaggregated and cross-disaggregated data.