More than 1,000 people took part in marches in the capital, the city of Cluj and other towns to increase public awareness about domestic violence in Romania which has claimed the lives of hundreds of women in recent years.
„Women in Romania are not safe at home, at work or on the street,” the organizers said. Some 426 women and children have died in domestic violence attacks in the last 8 years, and 33 deaths were registered in 2021.
Women held banners on Sunday saying: „Tomorrow may be too late”, „Dear politicians, support the victims, not the aggressors”, „Sisterhood has no borders” or „There is life after abuse”.
Some 40,000 women were victims of domestic abuse this year, police said.
Organizers said the march was attended by 2,500 and thousands more nationwide.
Protection for survivors of domestic violence is underfunded combined with „the indifference of the state which contributes to a society in which women and girls are not safe,” organizers said.
They demanded justice and greater protection from authorities, accusing the state of indifference.
They said that police do not take domestic violence seriously even when a woman calls the 112 emergency number.
Women who had been assaulted and threatened in their own home also participated in the marches. Some said they were beaten, but police took no action.
A report published by the European Commission in the spring of 2021 shows that domestic violence increased considerably during the pandemic in many European Union states. About 33 women were killed by partners, former partners or family members in Romania between January and August 2021, according to a report by the FILIA Center, a non-governmental organization that advocates for women’s rights.
