Romanian Senate opens door to “forgiveness” of domestic violence, causing concern in EU

The Romanian Senate has adopted a legislative project that would allow for the decriminalisation of the assailant in cases of domestic violence if there is reconciliation and the victim withdraws the first criminal complaint, but this option would not be available for any subsequent complaints, Adevarul reports.

Although Romania has committed not to tolerate domestic violence acts through an international convention, the Parliament has a different interpretation. The senators have delayed an initiative for changing the law for the prevention and tackling of domestic violence until it would no longer be debated in the plenary session, and it was tacitly adopted on Tuesday in its original form.

The project initiated by deputies and senators from UDMR, which also got supporting signatures from PSD, PNL and USR members, contains a questionable provision: if an aggressor has a single criminal complaint for domestic violence and reaches reconciliation with the victim, the aggressor no longer has to face criminal charges. “Reconciliation of the parties removes criminal responsibility only in the case of the first complaint by the victim or any other person that points to the abuse,” the project reads.

For example, if a husband is reported for domestic violence by his wife will be free of sanctions or criminal responsibility if his wife withdraws her complaint and if it was a first offense.

According to a 2016 report of the National Agency for Equal Opportunity (ANES), between 2009 and 2016 there were 102,882 reported cases of domestic violence. In 2016 alone there were 13,019, of which in 10,798 the victims were children. However, the institution notes that the numbers don’t represent the real dimensions of the phenomena, as many cases go unreported.

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