Radio România Internațional

Tag: domestic violence

  • The Gender barometer, 18 years on

    The Gender barometer, 18 years on


    Romania is a country where the perception of gender-related issues changes following a modern trend, a country still vacillating between the conservative and the modernist stances as regards gender equality issues, but also a feeble perception of the need for politics targeting equal opportunity issues. These have been the most relevant conclusions of the Gender Barometer in 2018, carried 18 years after the first Gender Barometer in Romania, in 2000. The most recent barometer was compiled at the request of the Filia Center feminist NGO. It quite faithfully captures the change in certain mentality patterns, while other mentalities have frozen in time and uncertainty looms with respect to certain attitudes. Domestic violence, education for healthcare and reproduction, adolescent mothers who are in great numbers in Romania, these are the issues that in recent years have been included on the public agenda. By the same token, the Filia Center wants the results of such a research to support the emergence of adequate gender policies. Andreea Braga is the representative of the Filia Center. She will now be giving us details about the backdrop against which the Gender Barometer was made possible, and about the possible solutions to the problem.


    “Gender prejudice related to violence, but also the lack of info on domestic violence and the dynamics of violence among professionals in the field, policemen, judges or social assistants, limit womens access to their rights. Right from the start, we find out victims are discouraged to file their criminal complaints even by policemen, or the latter simply do not know where to guide them. I do not want to generalize, not all of them behave like that, but we want as many professionals as possible to be sensitive about gender issues, to be able to overcome stereotypes and preconceptions regarding women and men, so that they may promptly intervene in cases of domestic violence, all the more so as their intervention can make the difference between life and death. We continue to be at the top of European countries, regarding the number of teenage mothers, the high rate of infant mortality, regarding the limited access to maternal healthcare services…There is a great number of women who never make it to the doctors while pregnant. That is why one of the solutions weve found was to revitalize one of the community networks of midwives and nurses who can reach out to their beneficiaries and work with the vast majority of women in the community. We want to revitalize the network of family planning medical offices. Unfortunately, there is also a kind of resistance of the public opinion when we speak about reproductive rights and access to birth control. I think its about time we changed that.”



    Under the circumstances, by way of comparison, the 2000 edition of the Gender Barometer and the Gender barometer in 2018 highlighted the emergence of positive changes, but also the emergence of frozen attitudes, in the wording of university professor and sociologist Laura Grunberg. Many of the answers in 2018 are contradictory, pointing to the vacillation of mentalities between past and present, between traditionalist and forward-looking attitudes. Here is Dr Laura Grunberg, speaking about frozen perceptions.



    “When asked if the man is head of the family, statistics show that 83% of respondents said yes in 2000, while only 70% said yes in 2018. However, this is a good result. But I still find it hard to regard it as a change, because 70% is still a lot. The situation is the same when it comes to the question whether women should follow their husband. In a way, change is more obvious here, from 78% down to 65%. But I resent this result. There are visible differences, but the figure is still high. I would have expected things to change more in 18 years.”



    Nevertheless, there are many positive aspects in the 2018 Gender Barometer. Laura Grunberg:



    “There has been a change in how the idea of a female president is perceived. Back in 2000 Romanians were not OK with it. In 2000 some 73% of respondents said they preferred a male president, while today only 43% still support this idea, which is a fantastic change. Also, as regards the idea that men are more capable than women to lead, the drop is significant – from 54% to 44%. This means women are as good as men, and some of them are better. The idea that women are too busy doing household chores and have no time to work in leading positions is also on the decrease, from 68% to 44%. As for the idea that women lack confidence, 43% of Romanians used to believe that in 2000 unlike only 31% in 2018”.



    The gender barometer clearly shows that the efforts of the non-profit organizations have paid off in terms of raising awareness over domestic violence and in supporting legal measures against aggressors and in favor of the victim. Laura Grunberg:


    “As compared to the year 2000, more people see domestic violence as no longer a private thing that needs to be addressed within the family. On the contrary, police is the first institution that should solve these matters. In 2000, 35% of respondents believed that partners should be left to solve their problems on their own, while at present only 20% still support this idea and say calling the police is the first thing to do. This is a mentality change, something very hard to do. So efforts do pay off.”



    The conclusion of the Gender Barometer is that Romania is changing and peoples perception as regards the traditional roles of women and men are diversifying.





  • The first pilot Crisis Centre for Rape Situations

    The first pilot Crisis Centre for Rape Situations

    One of the problems facing Romanian families is domestic violence, and rape is one of the most devastating such forms of violence. The trauma is so big, that some of the victims never manage to overcome it. The statistical data provided by the police reflect the phenomenon only in part, because most of the victims do not report the aggression. In order to support these victims, the National Agency for Equal Opportunities has recently inaugurated the first Crisis Centre for Rape Situations, established within the University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest.



    At this centre, victims of sexual abuse will get the help and support they need, as Gratiela Draghici, a State Secretary with the Agency told us: “We want this initiative to be a strong signal for all women in Romania, a sign of support and trust, as a new model of best practice will be created with regard to the integrated management of rape survivors, starting from a sad reality. Unfortunately, most women in question, because of certain stereotypes and mentalities, either do not report the situation to the police, or give up on taking all the necessary steps for the rapists to be finally punished for what they did. And the first step in the right direction was to call on the National Forensics Institute to find a solution for ER physicians to be able to collect biological samples, using a standard kit, which is absolutely necessary in cases of sexual violence. So, the entire activity and management moves to the ER, and in this way women will no longer have to go from one place to another, which usually discourages them. Now they will be able to go all the way in order to make sure the rapist gets punished.”



    Gratiela Draghici also told us how the centre will work: “The first condition is for the woman to report the rape; then, the ER physician activates the operative group from the University Hospital — a group specializing in forensics. They come to the ER and ask for the victim’s consent to file a complaint, and with that complaint we can say that legally it’s a case of rape. Next, samples are collected using the standard kit, provided by the National Forensics Institute, then the victim is guided to a shelter for victims of domestic violence, where they can find accommodation and benefit from psychological and legal counseling, in order for the case to have a finality, which is punishing the abuser.”



    The project will be extended at national level in an effort to contain the number of sexual aggression cases. The situation is really worrisome at the moment: last year 46 women and 12 children died because of the violence they had been subjected to by former or current partners or family members. A case in which a teenage girl has been sexually aggressed is reported every two days, but many cases go unreported. The fact that 55% of the Romanians consider that rape is justified in certain situations is especially worrisome.



    Gratiela Draghici has more: ”Data released by the Romanian Police show over 500 rape cases were reported, investigated, documented and obviously penalized in 2017. Statistics for 2018 haven’t been fully released so far, but the number of cases stands around 450. An important aspect should however be taken into consideration. A significant percentage of people, around 70% according to some surveys, do not declare the status of victim, if we take a look at the broader context of violence, including both domestic and sexual violence. Consequently, these figures are relevant only for the reported cases, which get into the attention of the Police and refer to the closed cases in which aggressors are brought to justice.”



    Feminist organizations in Romania hail the initiative taken by the National Agency for Equal Opportunities to set up a pilot Crisis Centre for Rape Situations. Andreea Braga, managing director of the Filia Centre, a feminist organization that fights against gender inequality through activism, advocacy and research has more: “This is a step forward as compared to what we’ve had so far, because there is no crisis centre for the victims of sexual violence. Unfortunately, this is not enough. We are far from having a society in which we can lay emphasis on the victims’ rights and grant them proper protection, as there is a dire need of professionals able to work with sexually traumatized people. Unfortunately, prejudice is pervasive, and there are situations in which they say the victim is at fault and thus the victims get traumatized once more. Furthermore, the victims should go from place to place and tell the story again and again, thus running a high risk of getting traumatized again. Unlike other European countries, Romania does not have a system which lays emphasis on the protection of victims, minimizing the risks they are exposed to.”

  • Alarming family violence levels

    Alarming family violence levels

    Domestic violence is unacceptable
    and unjustifiable and represents a serious human rights violation. Violence
    against women and girls is thus considered one of the most pressing problems of
    our times, with countless damaging consequences. The international community
    and civil society thus believe there are no extenuating circumstances for this
    form of aggression.




    Every year on the 25th of
    November, violence against women is brought to public attention to make people
    aware of its gravity. The statistics point to a painful reality: 35% of women
    and girls across the world have been confronted with some form of physical
    violence from their partners or other persons, while in some countries, seven
    in ten women have been exposed to some form of abuse in their lifetime.




    In Romania, three in ten women are
    victims of physical, verbal or psychological violence after the age of 15,
    according to a study published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental
    Rights based on data collected in 2014. In the first half of this year alone,
    the police have received around 9,000 complaints of domestic violence. Drinking
    is to blame in many of these cases. 14 counties in Romania have no support
    services or shelters for women faced with domestic violence, according to NGO
    representatives attending a debate held by the Red Cross. Moreover, in small
    communities in particular, women don’t know what to do when confronted with
    domestic violence.




    The director of a foundation in the
    field, Cristina Horia says women who are victims of violence can obtain a
    restraining order against their attacker within 72 hours. She warns, however,
    that while the order can be obtained quickly, the legislation is flawed in
    dealing with attackers who violate the restraining orders against them:




    It is necessary to provide harsher
    penalties for attackers. There are cases when women have been killed despite
    having a restraining order against their attackers. The General Inspectorate of
    the Romanian Police agrees with us. We still have to overcome one small
    obstacle at the justice ministry. The Criminal Code does include some
    penalties, but only 2% of criminal complaints end up in court. The conclusion
    is that attackers go unpunished.




    Cristina Horia also raises the
    problem of what happens to women after leaving the shelters. The longer they
    stay in the shelters, the better their recovery, says Cristina Horia. She says
    that statically speaking, 85% of women who have spent at least six months in
    the shelter lead independent lives after leaving the shelter. Unfortunately,
    says Cristina Horia, Romania does not provide long and very long-term services
    in this respect.

  • Domestic Violence

    Domestic Violence

    Domestic violence is impossible to stand, and it is just as difficult to put in words, even if you are a witness or a therapist, involved in the psychological recovery of the victims. Physical abuse usually goes with domestic violence, but these acts manifest in other violent acts: economic violence, which means deliberately creating financial dependence for the abused victims; social violence, or isolation of the victim from relatives and friends; verbal violence, or the repetition of insults that seek to ruin the victim’s self-esteem.



    Sexual violence also remains a major category of domestic violence, which, in most of the cases, is tantamount to marital violence. In Romania, all the aforementioned forms of domestic violence are regulated under Law no. 217/2003. It is a distinct law on preventing and fighting domestic violence, included in the Civil Procedure Code. According to the Fundamental Rights Agency, a European Union agency that monitors how fundamental human rights are observed in our country, such a law was needed, since the Agency revealed that one in four women was physically or sexually abused by her partner in Romania in 2015.



    Yet, more than 70 percent of the abused women did not report the violence episodes to the authorities. Some of the reasons are included in the legislation itself, being actually flaws of the Law 217/2003, according to Corina Braga, the president of the Filia Center, an NGO that advocates for gender equality.



    Corina Braga: “As of 2012, this law has started being amended, with the protection order being introduced as well, which is an absolutely necessary tool for the protection of domestic violence victims. The law also stipulates services provided for the victims of domestic violence as well as the earmarking of the required financial resources. However, there are quite a few cases when such financial resources have not been reassigned from the local budget. And that’s how we are sometimes faced with a situation when 13 counties offer no shelter for victims of domestic violence. Actually, the protection order, introduced only in 2012, does not secure immediate protection. The Network for Combating Domestic Violence, a network made of 24 NGOs, of which our foundation is also part, initiated the monitoring of the order’s implementation in 2012. On average, results show that it takes 33 days for the order to be issued from the application’s submission date. “



    In 2015, 150,000 calls were made to the 112 emergency number to report acts of domestic violence. Despite this additional resource, only a thousand protection orders have been issued in such cases. Furthermore, the legal provisions intended to protect the victim or punish the perpetrator are currently hampered because of the bureaucracy, which also impinges on the victim. For instance, the entire amount of legal evidence is to a great extent the victim’s responsibility during a trial. Added to this is the suspicious perception by the community as well as the authorities’ reluctance to issue the interdiction orders for a variety of reasons.



    With details on that, here is Andreea Braga once again: ”The victim is many times blamed by her entourage or the family, who say something like ‘ But what did you do, ‘cause he can’t have beaten you up for no reason?’. Even the authorities’ attitude is many times hostile or disheartening. There were cases when the victims dropped their complaint also because of the remarks made by policemen. They asked questions like: ‘What are we to do with the aggressor’s property right? How can we possibly evict him from their own home?’. But such a case has got nothing to do with an infringement of the property right, but with the victim’s superior right to safety. Since it takes 33 days for the order to be issued, the victim may continue to live with her aggressor, or, if she is offered shelter by relatives and friends, she may stay in touch with the aggressor who in turn can get in touch with her, who can threaten her or, on the contrary, behave very decently. Consequently, victims are sometimes discouraged to take further action and file a lawsuit. “



    Whether they resort to justice or they remain silent, many battered women are looking for support from charity associations like ANAIS. Here, the victims are provided with legal counseling to prepare the case for court with special emphasis on psychological counseling in individual or group sessions. But even in such a safe and sympathetic environment, it takes a long time for inner wounds to heal as psychological violence leaves the most scaring marks on its victims.



    Here is Mihaela Mangu, the president of ANAIS: “Many of them develop panic attacks because they spend a lot of time in tension, next to an aggressor. They get to fear to move or do anything else in order not to provoke the aggressor. After leaving so long in fear, once they manage to leave that environment, they continue to live with the conviction that something bad is always going to happen. Self-esteem is the most affected of all in such cases. Women are always told they are stupid, that they are no good, that they will never be able to make it on their own. All these, repeated day after day, can only lead to that self esteem getting even lower, and eventually leads to accepting violence.”



    In late February, the Romanian Parliament ratified the European Council Convention, or the ‘Istanbul Convention’ on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.



    Andreea Braga told us more about the main provisions of this convention: “An emergency protection order must be introduced, issued within 24 hours. The Istanbul Convention calls it an ‘emergency barring order’ and, in certain cases of violence, it must be issued by authorities as soon as the act of violence is committed. Another important thing is that this convention admits the fact that most of the victims of domestic violence are women, and stresses that violence against women is the result of a long history of inequality between men and women. The ratification of this convention also entails prevention of violence. We hope that the school curricula will soon include courses on gender equality, respect between partners, solving conflicts through non-violence and recognizing the signs of violence against women.”



    In the coming period, Romania must harmonize its legislation in order to implement this convention, especially if it wishes to preserve the well being of its female community.

  • Domestic Violence

    Domestic Violence

    Domestic violence is impossible to stand, and it is just as difficult to put in words, even if you are a witness or a therapist, involved in the psychological recovery of the victims. Physical abuse usually goes with domestic violence, but these acts manifest in other violent acts: economic violence, which means deliberately creating financial dependence for the abused victims; social violence, or isolation of the victim from relatives and friends; verbal violence, or the repetition of insults that seek to ruin the victim’s self-esteem.



    Sexual violence also remains a major category of domestic violence, which, in most of the cases, is tantamount to marital violence. In Romania, all the aforementioned forms of domestic violence are regulated under Law no. 217/2003. It is a distinct law on preventing and fighting domestic violence, included in the Civil Procedure Code. According to the Fundamental Rights Agency, a European Union agency that monitors how fundamental human rights are observed in our country, such a law was needed, since the Agency revealed that one in four women was physically or sexually abused by her partner in Romania in 2015.



    Yet, more than 70 percent of the abused women did not report the violence episodes to the authorities. Some of the reasons are included in the legislation itself, being actually flaws of the Law 217/2003, according to Corina Braga, the president of the Filia Center, an NGO that advocates for gender equality.



    Corina Braga: “As of 2012, this law has started being amended, with the protection order being introduced as well, which is an absolutely necessary tool for the protection of domestic violence victims. The law also stipulates services provided for the victims of domestic violence as well as the earmarking of the required financial resources. However, there are quite a few cases when such financial resources have not been reassigned from the local budget. And that’s how we are sometimes faced with a situation when 13 counties offer no shelter for victims of domestic violence. Actually, the protection order, introduced only in 2012, does not secure immediate protection. The Network for Combating Domestic Violence, a network made of 24 NGOs, of which our foundation is also part, initiated the monitoring of the order’s implementation in 2012. On average, results show that it takes 33 days for the order to be issued from the application’s submission date. “



    In 2015, 150,000 calls were made to the 112 emergency number to report acts of domestic violence. Despite this additional resource, only a thousand protection orders have been issued in such cases. Furthermore, the legal provisions intended to protect the victim or punish the perpetrator are currently hampered because of the bureaucracy, which also impinges on the victim. For instance, the entire amount of legal evidence is to a great extent the victim’s responsibility during a trial. Added to this is the suspicious perception by the community as well as the authorities’ reluctance to issue the interdiction orders for a variety of reasons.



    With details on that, here is Andreea Braga once again: ”The victim is many times blamed by her entourage or the family, who say something like ‘ But what did you do, ‘cause he can’t have beaten you up for no reason?’. Even the authorities’ attitude is many times hostile or disheartening. There were cases when the victims dropped their complaint also because of the remarks made by policemen. They asked questions like: ‘What are we to do with the aggressor’s property right? How can we possibly evict him from their own home?’. But such a case has got nothing to do with an infringement of the property right, but with the victim’s superior right to safety. Since it takes 33 days for the order to be issued, the victim may continue to live with her aggressor, or, if she is offered shelter by relatives and friends, she may stay in touch with the aggressor who in turn can get in touch with her, who can threaten her or, on the contrary, behave very decently. Consequently, victims are sometimes discouraged to take further action and file a lawsuit. “



    Whether they resort to justice or they remain silent, many battered women are looking for support from charity associations like ANAIS. Here, the victims are provided with legal counseling to prepare the case for court with special emphasis on psychological counseling in individual or group sessions. But even in such a safe and sympathetic environment, it takes a long time for inner wounds to heal as psychological violence leaves the most scaring marks on its victims.



    Here is Mihaela Mangu, the president of ANAIS: “Many of them develop panic attacks because they spend a lot of time in tension, next to an aggressor. They get to fear to move or do anything else in order not to provoke the aggressor. After leaving so long in fear, once they manage to leave that environment, they continue to live with the conviction that something bad is always going to happen. Self-esteem is the most affected of all in such cases. Women are always told they are stupid, that they are no good, that they will never be able to make it on their own. All these, repeated day after day, can only lead to that self esteem getting even lower, and eventually leads to accepting violence.”



    In late February, the Romanian Parliament ratified the European Council Convention, or the ‘Istanbul Convention’ on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.



    Andreea Braga told us more about the main provisions of this convention: “An emergency protection order must be introduced, issued within 24 hours. The Istanbul Convention calls it an ‘emergency barring order’ and, in certain cases of violence, it must be issued by authorities as soon as the act of violence is committed. Another important thing is that this convention admits the fact that most of the victims of domestic violence are women, and stresses that violence against women is the result of a long history of inequality between men and women. The ratification of this convention also entails prevention of violence. We hope that the school curricula will soon include courses on gender equality, respect between partners, solving conflicts through non-violence and recognizing the signs of violence against women.”



    In the coming period, Romania must harmonize its legislation in order to implement this convention, especially if it wishes to preserve the well being of its female community.