A few thousand Romanians protested violence against women on Tuesday after a 23-year-old pregnant woman was shot dead in the street as she strolled with her toddler and a friend in an upscale area of Bucharest.
Protesters demanded authorities stop turning a blind eye to violence against women and take steps to curb acts of aggression against women.
The slaying of the young woman in broad daylight, who was shot four times on May 31 and died later in hospital, has shocked Romanians where 25 women have been killed in a domestic incident in the last five months,
The perpetrator, 49, and her ex-partner, later fatally shot himself with a single bullet to the head as police launched a manhunt.
The brazenness and violence of the attack on a Saturday evening as families enjoyed the early summer has shocked Romanians. The young mother had been a participant on the Romanian reality show ‘Love Island.’
“We take to the streets for those who are no longer there. We fight until all women are safe,” reads the description of the demonstration, organizers said.
“The man was her childhood aggressor, he abused her since she was 14. After years of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, several protection orders and complaints to the police for threats, the aggressor killed her in the middle of the street, in front of several children,” the event organizers wrote on Facebook page.
The demonstration is organized by the FILIA Center, the Center for Legal Resources and Feminism Romania. The organizations draw attention to the fact that the death of the 23-year-old is the 25th case of a woman being killed in the last five months.
“Every year, in Romania, dozens of women are killed just because they are women. Violence against women is insufficiently sanctioned, tolerated by those who should protect us and then transformed into a context of blaming the victim,” the event description reads.
“We believe the women who are victims of violence. We are tired of living in a culture of ‘tolerance’ of violence when it is directed against women who come from poor backgrounds, Roma or have experiences that do not make them ‘worthy’ in the eyes of public opinion of being protected,” the organizers say.
“We believe the women who speak out about the violent situations they go through. We need solidarity, not blame. Blaming the victim is part of the culture of violence. It feeds it. It normalizes it. It makes it invisible. It makes it even harder to prevent,” the organizations add.
To eliminate gender-based violence, society must understand that the murder of the young woman in Cosmopolis (an upscale housing estate) is not an “isolated phenomenon, but the result of a deeply rooted patriarchal culture that teaches men that they have the right to control women, to believe that dominance in a relationship is natural, that women’s autonomy and consent can be ignored, and that refusal is not acceptable,” according to the description of the event.
What are protesters demanding?
The organizers have outlined several key issues, including:
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We demand that state authorities protect all women and girls from violence. Femicide is not recognized by the Romanian state as a separate crime that punishes gender-based killings of women;
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We call for the criminalization of femicide as a distinct offense and the recognition of its gender-based hate motive;
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We demand that existing laws be enforced, regardless of the form violence takes;
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We demand mandatory risk assessments in all domestic violence cases, both at the prosecution and court levels;
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We demand real and adequate funding for services for both victims and perpetrators;
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We demand that gender-based violence survivors be allowed to file criminal complaints against their abusers without a time limit;
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We demand real prevention mechanisms through education and awareness: concepts like consent, healthy relationships, and gender equality must be taught in schools.
