Together for women’s safety
Marches of solidarity with women and girls who live every day in fear of violence took place in several cities across Romania on Sunday.
Daniela Budu, 20.10.2025, 14:00
Several thousand people participated on Sunday in the “Together for Women’s Safety” march, organized in Bucharest and several cities across the country, to show their support for women and to draw attention to all forms of violence to which they are subjected. The participants recalled the large number of victims of domestic violence reported in recent months alone and the different ways in which aggression against women manifests itself, from physical, sexual and verbal to humiliation, control or psychological terror. The participants asked the Parliament, among other things, to amend the law to prevent femicides and the violence that precedes them, they called for the criminalization of forced marriage as a distinct crime, as well as for education for gender equality in the education system.
The President of the Ades Dulcis Association, Carmen Gendelon, says that no woman should have to go through such an experience: “Violence against women is not a private matter, but a serious social problem and we want every woman to be safe, whether she is at home or on the street. Women, whether they are of Roma ethnicity or not, young or older, deserve to be safe, in their homes, on the street, in the community. Violence does not choose ethnicity or social status. That is why we stand together in solidarity, to say that we care.”
According to women’s rights organizations, 40 women were killed in the first 8 months of this year by former or current partners, and almost 450 were killed by a family member in the last 10 years. Last year alone, over 36,000 complaints were filed in which women claimed to have been beaten or suffered other forms of violence. However, experts emphasize that the number of victims is actually much higher, and this statement is also supported by data collected by NGOs: over 40% of women in Romania say they have experienced physical violence, threats or sexual violence, and almost one in two has been subjected to such aggressions by their partners.
The Network for Preventing and Combating Violence against Women calls for more effective legal instruments, places in safe and accessible shelters, as well as free psychological and legal counseling for victims. And the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men has made available to the victims of domestic violence a free telephone line where they can report situations of domestic violence, human trafficking, discrimination based on sex or multiple discrimination.
On the other hand, last month, the Parliament established a special commission dedicated to combating domestic violence and femicide, “Romania without violence”. Made up of members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, together with experts and NGOs, the commission’s main mission is to analyze current legislation, propose amendments that would strengthen the protection of victims, and study the possibility of introducing a clear legal definition of femicide. (LS)
