Hundreds of people protest killing of women in Romania
Several hundred people, mostly women, gathered on Wednesday, June 18, in Bucharest's Victory Square to voice their anger against the killing of women in Romania and demand reforms. Since the beginning of the year, 26 women have been killed.
People brought signs displaying messages such as: “Safety for all women,” “Why is it always my fault?” “They screamed, no one heard them, now they are silent forever.” At the same time, those gathered in Victory Square brought flowers and candles to pay tribute to women who were victims of domestic violence, according to Agerpres.
The protest on Wednesday comes after a pregnant woman was killed with an axe by her partner in Prahova county earlier this week. The murder took place in front of the victim’s mother and her two children. This is the second protest organized by the FILIA Center, the first having taken place after the murder of Teodora Marcu, in a neighborhood near Bucharest.
“Two weeks ago, 5,000 people took to the streets to cry out their anger and suffering after a man brutally killed a woman he had been abusing since she was a teenager. We are shocked by the passivity of state institutions that should protect us and prevent violence and femicide. The response from the authorities was nearly nonexistent, and solutions are slow to appear. Silence and ignorance are complicit in murder,” say representatives of the FILIA Center.
“Every year, in Romania, dozens of women are killed just because they are women. Violence against women is insufficiently punished, tolerated by those who should protect us, and later turned into a context of victim-blaming,” emphasize representatives of the FILIA Center.
The protesters demand that laws be enforced within a reasonable timeline; that risk assessment become mandatory in all cases of domestic violence, both at the prosecution and court level; funding for services dedicated to victims; perpetrators, continuous and mandatory training for police officers, prosecutors, judges, health professionals, and social workers in the field of gender-based violence; centralized and transparent data on femicides; and that survivors of gender-based violence be able to file a criminal complaint against perpetrators without a time limit.
Romanian president Nicusor Dan also issued a statement on the matter, expressing his full solidarity with the protestors. He promised that he will collaborate with the future government to build a package of concrete measures to ensure real protection for victims and the prevention of gender-based violence.
“I make a strong appeal to the authorities responsible for enforcing the law—police officers, prosecutors, judges—to treat every case of domestic violence with utmost seriousness. Too many warning signs have been ignored. It is imperative that victims are believed and protected, and that abusive behavior is stopped before it turns into tragedy,” the president said.
According to Eurostat data processed by Monitorul Social, a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania, or FES, the phenomenon of violence against women perpetrated by their partners is more prevalent in Romania compared to other EU states. When including all forms of severe violence (psychological, physical, and sexual) committed by the intimate partner, nearly 1 in 2 women in Romania who have ever had a partner (48.9%) report being affected, compared to 31.8% in the EU.
(Photo source: Nicusor Dan on Facebook)
