[JURIST] The Moldovan government [official website] should enact coherent anti-discrimination legislation [press release] to ensure equal treatment of men and women, the UN Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice said Wednesday. Kamala Chandrakirana, the chair of the working group, pointed out the inefficiency of allowing practices that subject women to discrimination. The group noted that most employers prefer women without family obligations and younger than 45 years old in hiring process, that there is a significant gap in wages between gender, and “over-concentration of women employed in sectors associated with gender stereotypes” is prevalent. Chandrakirana noted that “special measures should be taken to overcome the under-representation of women in decision-making positions at all levels, including the regional, district and local levels” to ensure discriminatory practices are monitored and abolished. The working group will present its final conclusions and findings to the UN Human Rights Council [official website] in June 2013.

A similar call [JURIST report] to the country was made earlier this month by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] for an anti-discrimination law that would protect the rights of religious minorities, the Roma population and LGBT individuals. The law was proposed in 2008 and is still studied and debated by the country’s parliament. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] also expressed [JURIST report] her support for the proposed law in November.