Radio România Internațional

Tag: gender violence

  • Evolutions and contradictions in the perception of gender violence

    Evolutions and contradictions in the perception of gender violence

    A dramatic reality, encountered in all European countries, gender violence is equally present in Romania. And in recent years, to punish the perpetrators and protect women from the aggressions that are mainly targeting them, a number of measures have been taken, such as restraining orders and electronic tagging for offenders. Maybe this is also a reason why the percentage of violence acts reporting has recently increased. In the first 6 months of 2022, data related to domestic violence recorded by the Romanian Police show that 18,507 women were the victims of acts of violence, including 18 cases of murder, 13 attempted murders and 12,801 acts of bodily injury. Nevertheless, experts believe that the existing data are still irrelevant, since the statistics only refer to physical aggression without taking into account the other types of violence against women as described in the Romanian legislation.



    Ionela Băluță, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the Bucharest University and co-author of the 2022 Gender Violence Barometer, explains the need for complete information.: “The subject of this barometer is violence against women. As we showed in the introductory study, we tried to make a study that should respond to the way in which the phenomenon is approached and explained both in the academic and the political space. Besides, we ratified the Istanbul Convention and last year we had the first evaluation. This convention has an international monitoring and evaluation committee, GREVIO, which makes country reports. And in the country report on Romania, one of the recurrent issues highlighted by the GREVIO experts as negative is the data supply. If we read the GREVIO report which is available online, it is public and all our authorities are aware of it, we find that we have no data on violence against women. It’s one of the biggest problems, because we cannot come up with adequate political measures if we don’t know what we have on the ground. Another thing in the report refers to the fact that the gender perspective is insufficiently or not at all present in the way in which the Romanian authorities have modified the legislation and formulated public policies.



    Coordinated by the FILIA Center (feminist non-governmental association) and financed through a grant provided by the German Embassy in Bucharest, the 2022 gender violence barometer is only the second study on this topic carried out since 2003. At that time, the research was called the Domestic Violence Barometer, using a more restrictive term. However, comparisons can be made between data collected in two periods of time separated by 20 years.



    Ionela Băluță has more details: “I do not think that this comparison allows us to say that we have taken a spectacular leap in terms of awareness, sensitization and rejection of violence against women. There is indeed an important change in terms of tolerance for physical aggression. It would be quite malicious not to identify hitting, slapping and even insulting as physical assaults. In these situations, these manifestations appear to be recognized as forms of violence, as our barometer also shows. Compared to 2003, the degree of rejection of these acts has increased a lot. In general, there is over 80% rejection by the population of these forms of violence, which was not the case in 2003. In exchange, as regards the forms of violence that are less known, although they are in the law, namely social violence, economic violence, psychological violence, an increase was reported. It’s not big, about 7%. Let me give you an example. Currently, approximately one in four Romanians consider it slightly serious or not serious at all if a woman is not allowed to spend her money as she wishes, if a woman is not allowed to go out of the house unaccompanied by her partner, or if a woman is not allowed to have a group of friends.



    Other data included in the 2022 Gender Violence Barometer are: 19% of respondents consider it not at all or slightly serious that a woman is raped after agreeing to go to a man’s house, and 12% think the same if a woman dressed provocatively is raped.



    Ionela Baluță continues her explanation: When we look at the attitude towards rape, the stereotypes prevalent among the population emerge very clearly. And the lower the level of education or the more prevalent patriarchal the values, the more worrying the percentages. For example, even if the respondents believe that rape is not accepted and is considered very serious by the majority, we just wanted to check the rest. But when asked how they feel about the situation in which a woman was raped after agreeing to go to a man’s house, this situation is no longer as serious, they answered. As if when, in our social relationships, if we agree to go out with a man, to go to various places, to our house or his house to talk, rape is included in the package. So, women, be careful when you accept this! Unfortunately, an important percentage of Romanian society, people with whom we interact, believe that, in fact, we accept being raped. There is something more worrying. We specifically asked: ‘how serious, in your opinion, is the situation in which an underage girl has sexual relations with a man. But, in fact, this situation does not exist. A minor ‘is raped by a man. At least according to the legal text, if we do not get into other matters related to ethics, morals and so on. The legal definition says that when you do not give your consent, you are forced to do something. But to our respondents, it seems less serious if an underage girl has sexual relations with an adult man than if a woman is raped by a stranger.



    Created to further reduce the lack of official data on the spread of gender-based violence in all its forms, the 2022 barometer was also intended as a working tool for the authorities to formulate appropriate public policies. (LS)


  • COVID-19 and gender violence

    COVID-19 and gender violence

    Ever since the start of the pandemic and the introduction of the first restrictions on movement in the spring of 2020, signals were given that the incidence of domestic violence skyrocketed all over the world. The EU member states, including Romania, were no exception, and women had to cope with even greater difficulties than usual in certain respects, says Andreea Rusu, an executive director of the FILIA Center, an association devoted to the protection of womens rights.



    Andreea Rusu: “In Romania, in the first nine months of the year, there were more than 20,000 cases of hitting or other domestic violence. Also, the number of calls to the 112 emergency number was 18% higher than in the same period of 2019. At the same time, during the state of emergency calls doubled to the free number provided by the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men, where women can obtain information about the services they can use in case of violence. Women also faced other obstacles. For instance, in order to apply for a restraining order from home, they needed internet access, a computer and a printer. But everybody knows that in Romania there is no internet access in rural areas, especially in the disadvantaged areas. Many women simply don’t have the necessary technological means at home to do that.”



    During the state of emergency instated from March to May 2020, when freedom of movement was severely restricted, many women were practically trapped in their homes with the aggressors. They could not leave the house and did not have anyone else to turn to for help. Also, besides the fact that the application for a restraining order had to be filed online, some courts were closed or had the number of their staff reduced. In most cases, the abused women were left with the impression that, at that time, the main priority was public health, and the safety and integrity of the abused had become irrelevant to the authorities. This is, in any case, the conclusion reached by non-governmental organizations.



    Andreea Rusu: “Many women had to return home to their aggressors or were trapped in the same house either because they were afraid to leave, as they were fearing the virus or simply because they could not talk to anyone else because of the aggressor. In other countries, ways could be found for the victims of domestic violence to alert the police or the social assistance directorates, such as dialing dedicated numbers on WhatsApp or going to a pharmacy where they had to say a specific code. When you are with an aggressor in the house, it is very difficult to contact NGOs or social assistance offices to ask for help. A victim may not always call 112 and victims’ calls are not always considered an emergency.”



    Under these circumstances, the victims did get some help though, also by means of the digital technology. You may wonder how the civic or non-governmental associations that usually helped these women could intervene?



    Andreea Rusu has the answer: “In most cases, the discussions moved to the online environment with the victims who afforded or had Internet access. That is why the access rate to the special sites of other associations has increased. Several online campaigns have also been launched to help the victims during this pandemic crisis. But, unfortunately, women living in disadvantaged areas who do not have information about any NGOs were alone, and their options were few, if any.”



    Although the entire EU has been affected by an increased number of complaints about domestic violence, member states have reacted somehow differently when intervening against abuses. The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) – an EU agency based in Vilnius – has conducted a study on the impact of COVID 19 on victims of domestic violence. Veronica Collins, an EIGE representative next tells us more on the main information recorded shortly after the introduction of quarantine in many EU countries.



    Veronica Collins: “In France, we saw, in just one week, a 32% jump in domestic violence reports. In Lithuania, we saw a 20% jump in domestic violence reports over a three-week period, compared to the same period in 2019. These are the two initial figures that we have. One comes from the Lithuanian police, the reports in Lithuania, and the French reports come from the media. But solid, administrative official figures are still quite hard to come by. And our study was focused on the action taken by member states to protect women from violence, and to ensure access to support services, social shelters and hot lines. And in some countries also there was initially a decline in calls, presumably due to the fact that perpetrators who were always around in the lockdown situations and victims were unable to make phone calls.”



    The EIGE study also shows the reasons why, in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cases of domestic violence rises.



    Veronica Collins: “The reasons behind the increase in violence against women are manifold. We can include increased economic insecurity. This can cause tension in the home, tension in the family. If the victim is not financially independent, which can happen quite frequently it becomes even more difficult to leave the abusive situation. Economic uncertainty, general anxiety and stress could also increase alcohol consumption which can also cause violence. Broken down infrastructure, limited infrastructure, limited access to infrastructure can also prevent the victims from leaving and seeking the support that they need. Restrictions during a crisis can also make it difficult to access informed support network, such as friends and family.”



    Although some member states have taken measures to protect the victims of domestic violence during this period, the EIGE study shows that there is insufficient circumstantial intervention, and that an integrated strategy is needed that can be applied in any type of crisis. (tr. L. Simion)