Women are more often targeted in contravention reports and criminal cases related to electoral corruption than men, a trend that appears to be linked to greater economic vulnerability. This is the main conclusion of an analytical report conducted by the Center Partnership for Development (CPD), titled “Electoral Corruption in the Republic of Moldova: Social Profiles, Gender Disparities, and Institutional Response”, which covered the period of the 2024 presidential elections and the constitutional referendum, TRIBUNA reports.

A rigorous analysis of 25,882 contravention reports and 77 criminal cases from September 2024 to August 2025 shows that socially vulnerable groups are the most involved in acts of corruption:

• 61.9% of the individuals targeted are women. CPD estimates that a woman is 20% more likely to be drawn into such schemes compared to a man.
• The average age of those involved is 52.6 years, with individuals over 60 being the most affected group (38.1% of cases).
• Over 85% of those sanctioned do not have active employment (57.5% unemployed and 28.3% pensioners).

“These data reinforce the hypothesis that economic factors—especially professional inactivity—are directly correlated with the predisposition to accept electoral bribes, and that prevention policies should explicitly target the most exposed socio‑economic categories.

Since electoral corruption disproportionately affects women, people over 40, the unemployed, and pensioners, public policies must directly target these groups. Continued investment in economic inclusion and social protection measures is needed,” the analysis concludes.

It is worth noting that the analysis was developed within the project “Strengthening Democratic Resilience in Moldova”, implemented by UNDP Moldova in partnership with UN Women Moldova and funded by Norway, Canada, Sweden, and Denmark.