Women Victims of Domestic Violence Analysis of The

Women Victims of Domestic Violence: Analysis of Their
Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System in Romania
Imola Antal¹, Júlia Szigeti¹, Maria Stoleru¹ 
¹ Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Department of Social Work, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Bld., 400604 Cluj-Napoca,
Romania
KEYWORDS ABSTRACT
Criminal justice interventions are important to reduce

domestic violence and protect women. In this study we
will tackle the unwillingness of women in two regions of
Romania to press charges and the failure of the criminal
justice system in providing them protection and justice.
“Why don‟t women press charges?” was the main
question that stood at the basis of the international
research WOSAFEJUS1, where Babeş-Bolyai University
(UBB) was the main Romanian partner through its Faculty
of Sociology and Social Work. In our paper we will
analyse the studies relevant to the field of domestic
Domestic violence violence and we will pay a special attention to those that
Criminal justice system take into consideration the functioning of the criminal
Police response justice system. We will present a preliminary analysis of
Women‟s perceptions the women's perception of the criminal justice system in
Romania. Our results are based on 76 semi-structured
interviews with women in a situation of domestic
violence. Atlas.ti was used to aid a thematic analysis of the
qualitative data. The results will highlight women‟s
expectations regarding the justice system, the perceived
usefulness of the legal intervention as well as the main
factors that come into play when they decide to stay or to
leave the criminal justice process. Even though in most of
the cases police intervention can‟t or doesn‟t provide
safety and the rapid elimination of danger, the importance
of non-legislative factors of intervention has nevertheless
been emphasized.

Contact address: imolaan@yahoo.com (I. Antal)
1WOSAFEJUS (Women Safe Justice) – Why Doesn‟t She Press Charges? Understanding and
Improving Women‟s Safety and Right to Justice, is a transnational project - coordinated by the
Carlo Cattaneo Research Institute in Bologna, and financed by the European Commission‟s
Daphne III Programme.
SOCIAL CHANGE REVIEW

Vol. 9, Issue 1, June 2011
DOI: 10.1515/scr-2016-0015
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/16/17 4:42 PM
I. Antal, J. Szigeti, M. Stoleru – Women Victims of Domestic Violence
Introduction
Feminists have been campaigning for the criminalization of domestic

violence since the 1970s, considering that domestic abuse should be seen and
condemned as any other violent crime. In many countries there has been a
plethora of policy initiatives aimed to develop criminal justice approaches to
domestic violence. These included generally pro-arrest and increased
prosecution and conviction and suggested that criminal justice interventions
can be used to deal with domestic violence and to reduce violence (Hester
2005).
Research in the 1980s in the United States initially indicated that use of
arrest helped to reduce repeat offending in relation to domestic violence. In
the 90‟s arrest studies were carried out in several countries (US, UK, Canada,
etc.), aiming to evaluate the efficiency of arresting on reoffending and the
safety of the victims. One of the first and most important arrest studies was
the Minneapolis experiment in the US (Sherman and Berk 1984). The
Minneapolis experiment found that when the offenders of spouse assault
incidents were not arrested, the prevalence of official recorded re-offending
within six months was 21%; while the re-offending rate of similarly situated
suspects who were arrested was 14%. According to Garner and Maxwell
(2000), following the Minneapolis domestic violence experiment and 6 other
important police arrest studies in the US, the policy debate on alternative
police responses to domestic violence is no longer about alternatives to
arrest but alternatives to what the police and other agencies should do after
an arrest. Later studies found out that while arrest may act as a deterrent for
some domestic violence perpetrators, it does not appear to have such an
effect on the more chronic domestic violence offenders (Hester 2005).
Regarding the court outcomes, generally there is a relatively small amount
of research, usually showing that the rate of convictions is really small
compared with the charges or emergency calls.
Besides all the positive outcomes of criminal justice studies, according
to Bailey (2010), research indicates that criminal justice interventions are
unlikely to be effective in addressing what is a social, political, and economic
problem. For this reason, a criminal justice solution should be part of
broader domestic violence policies that address the complexity of this issue.
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Vol. 9, Issue 1, June 2011 Unauthenticated
In Romania the criminalization of domestic violence got some

attention only in the last ten years. During the communist regime, domestic
violence was denied, just like any other social problem. Even though during
the communist regime an official policy was launched on the equality
between men and women, this had nothing to do with reality. Even though
in 1982, Romania ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women – CEDAW – considered to be a
very important legal instrument for the affirmation of women‟s rights, inside
the country there was a tough legislation that supported a pronatalist policy
“that valued women especially from the point of view of fertility” (Muntean,
Popescu and Popa 2000). After 1989, at first, there were external mechanisms
for raising awareness on the domestic violence phenomenon. They acted
through the ratification of international documents, the promotion of human
rights and implicitly, the incrimination of partner violence and media
coverage of international events concerning domestic violence (Popescu and
Muntean 2000).
In 2000 new provisions were added to the „Violence and Corporal
Injury” article of the Romanian Penal Code, through Law No. 197 of 13th
November 2000, which represented the first public acknowledgement of
domestic violence as a social problem in Romania. Subsequent applications
revealed that the changes to the Penal Code were inefficient and insufficient.
Consequently, the necessity to harmonize legislation with community needs,
as well as the pressure from the civil society, which was fuelled by the
prevalence of domestic violence cases, led to the promulgation of Law no.
217 of 29 May 2003, which provided for the prevention of domestic violence
and the action against it. This law, voted in 2003 which doesn‟t insist at all
on the safety of the victim but rather on the prevention of violence through a
system of family assistants, a structure that doesn‟t actually exist, it is rather
an example of resistance to change than a real effort towards the
criminalization of domestic violence offences.
Data and research in Romania
The scientific interest for domestic violence follows the same pattern as the
legal and social interest for the topic in the ways in which it has been
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discussed and researched. There are only a few studies in Romania which
provide valid research data regarding domestic violence and most of them
are prevalence studies. According to the Survey on Violence against Women
(Gallup 2003), 21% of the women had been victims of physical abuses in their
lives, 6% of the women in Bucharest have suffered physical abuses during
the last year (Gallup 2003). According to the results of the National Research
on Domestic Violence and Violence in the Workplace (CPE 2003), 14.3% of the
whole population of Romania, 17.8% of women respectively, state that they
have been victims of one or another type of domestic violence at a certain
point in their lives. 6.8% of the adult population in Romania reports physical
domestic violence which is almost four times more frequent against women
(10.5%) than against men (2.5%), 1.4% of the adult population in Romania
reported sexual domestic violence. Sexual violence is only reported by
women (2.6%), 12% of the divorced women reported marital rape, versus
2.3% of the married women or 1.8% of the widows. The Reproductive Health
Survey‟s results show that of 15 - 44 years old ever married women 28%
reported verbal abuse, 15% physical abuse and 3% sexual abuse.
Regarding the male sample, 51% of male who are currently or
previously married reported being verbally aggressive with their partners
during their lifetime, 21% admitted being physically aggressive at least once
and 0,6% admitted being sexually abusive. The data shows a slightly
reduced level of domestic violence perpetrated by males in 2004 than in
1999, the reported physical violence decreased from 29% to 21% (Ministry of
Health 2005).
We can also find data regarding the perception of the police or other
agencies. According to the Gender Barometer (Gallup 2000) in 2000 more than
half of the population still believed that domestic abuse is a private matter
(63%) in case of which no one or relatives should intervene. Only 28%
thought that the police should intervene.
According to the Survey on Violence against Women (Gallup 2003) of
those who experienced physical abuse within the family (N = 193), only in
17% cases she or anybody else went to or called the police to file a complaint
(last time when they were aggressed). On the following we represented the
level or the reasons of dissatisfaction of the respondents with the
intervention of the police. More were dissatisfied (63%) than satisfied (37%),
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and 66% of those who were dissatisfied mentioned that the reason was that
they didn‟t do anything. Of those who didn‟t file a complaint, 53% didn‟t
give the reason, 21% said it was not so bad, 7% were afraid or thought it
would not help.
In the study National Research on Domestic Violence and Violence in the
Workplace–Romania (CPE 2003), during the individual surveys the
respondents were asked about who should intervene when someone has
been beaten by her/his partner, wife/husband. The majority of the
respondents (61%) still considered that the domestic violence is a private
matter, in case of which family or nobody should intervene. 33% considered
that the police and 3% that the Prosecutor‟s Office should intervene.
In this survey the percentage of those who filed a complaint at the
police against the perpetrator was 20%. 47% of those who filed a complaint
were satisfied with the way police officers dealt with their cases, which is a
little bit more compared with the results of the above presented survey. 6%
of the respondents who filed a complaint knew that the offenders had been
convicted on criminal charges.
Although these numbers indicate a high rate of prevalence of the
phenomenon, the number of those that ask for the help of social services or
other specialist services is a lot smaller. Official data are provided by the
National Agency for Family Protection (ANPF 2009). According to these
data, the number of domestic violence cases registered and reported varies
from 2937 (in 2005) to 11537 (in 2008) the total number of cases reported
during 2004-2009, first semester is 53720. In the last 2 years the number of
reported cases grew. The National Agency for Family Protection (ANFP)
collected data from state agencies and NGO-s which provide services for
victims of domestic violence.
We have more precise statistical data concerning the number of
criminal files. According to the statistical data coming from the Superior
Council of Magistracy (2010) the total number of criminal cases sent to
courts between 2002 and 2009 varies between 128 (in 2006) and 242 (in 2002).
The number of files did not increase after the adoption of Law no. 217. 2002
year saw the highest number of criminal files (242) sent to courts, while in
2008 there were only 174. As for the percentage of different crimes for the 8
years that we studied, the highest percentage (41.9%) were criminal files for
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homicide, followed by family abandonment (21.5%) and by hitting and other

violent acts (15%). The percentage of homicide cases is higher than the total
of the percentages of the other crimes of physical violence (36%). The
smallest number of criminal files was represented by those for deprivation
of liberty (0.5%) and rape (0.3%).
The Gender Theme Group performed a research in 1999: Victims of
Domestic Violence: Children and Women (Muntean, Popescu and Popa 2000), a
qualitative analysis of 40 interviews with women victims of domestic
violence. This study revealed the following aspects with regard to police
intervention:
 The most frequent situation is that police refuses to intervene in
absence of a divorce decree or a dead body. Muntean et al.
(2000) presents the paradoxical situation: nevertheless, with no
other alternative available, police is the only institution
authorised to intervene.
 Another situation occurs when the police officers directly or
indirectly encourage violence by blaming the victim or by
trying to mediate the situation (saying that if she minds her
own business things will go better).
 Giving fines for disturbing the peace, which are paid from the
family budget and which can subsequently aggravate violence.
The victim‟s feeling of being guilty is intensified by the
intervention of the police which can give a fine to both
partners.
 A fourth situation is total reluctance to call the police, because
of fear, because they don‟t expect any positive result or because
of shame.
 In case of police intervention, this can be characterised by
goodwill or by expressing their powerlessness.
In 2006 a group of researchers from APFR Timisoara analysed 51
domestic violence cases trialled in court. According to their results in 67% of
the cases women maintained their declarations, and only in 11.2% of the
cases they withdrew their preliminary complaint. 9.8% of the perpetrators
were arrested during the trial, and in most of the situations the punishment
22
was a fine. In 4 situations the perpetrators were imprisoned (all of them for
severe crime).
The WOSAFEJUS research. Methodological aspects
In order to establish a detailed and triangulated picture of how the

Romanian criminal justice system functions, the WOSAFEJUS research used
quantitative analysis of domestic violence related case files in the courts and
prosecution offices from Cluj and Iasi counties and ethnographic
observations at the courts, combined with in-depth interviews with
individuals experiencing domestic violence and with staff from the criminal
justice system and other agencies. The Atlas.ti software was used to aid a
thematic analysis of the qualitative data. We based our present study on the
preliminary results of the interviews with women.
Through in-depth interviews we wanted to explore different areas:
why women do not use the criminal justice system (call the police, press
charges, etc.); why-where-how-when they decide to use it, to press charges;
what happens when they use the criminal justice system, how they perceive
the intervention of the police, prosecution service and the courts.
This means looking at how women perceive and represent the criminal
justice system, understanding what women‟s needs, requests and
expectations from the system are in order to investigate what
prevents/motivates them to use it. What their experiences are, if any.
The perspectives and experiences of those victimized were obtained
via interviews with 76 victims of domestic violence, 30 women from Iasi, 46
women from Cluj. We paid special attention to women from ethnic
minorities (11 ethnic Roma and 15 ethnic Hungarian women from Cluj).
Most of them were contacted via social services or NGO-s offering services
for women, initially via an information letter to ask if they would be willing
to be interviewed.
For the creation of our sample we took into consideration the
following criteria: identifying those women that used/didn‟t use the
criminal justice system, women with/without children, aged 19-70, living in
urban/rural areas, from different social classes, with different levels of
education (no high school diploma – university graduates).
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The analysis of the interviews revolved around two main themes:

using and not using the criminal justice system, 9 secondary themes
(obstacles to using the criminal justice system; emergency calls and women‟s
contacts with the police at the police station; women‟s reporting/not
reporting violence; women‟s withdrawing statements/complaints/attempts
to resort to the justice system; legal information; relevant persons /
professionals‟ attitudes towards women‟s use of the criminal justice system;
women‟s view of criminal justice system; other court involvement; support)
and 47 categories (e.g impact of children on decision making, perpetrator‟s
behaviour post-incident, feelings or fears about using criminal justice
system, victim satisfaction, view of courts, view of police, view on outcome,
what could have been done differently etc). The perceptions of the use of the
criminal justice system will be analysed during each step of the legal
intervention.
Analysis of the results
Obstacles of using the Criminal Justice System
Regarding the reasons for not using the criminal justice system, we
indentified two main categories, on one hand reasons related to the women‟s
situation and, on the other hand, reasons related to the perception of the
criminal justice system.
In connection with the first category of reasons women highlighted the
following obstacles:
Fear. Fear of more violence, fear of endangering the safety of the
children:
I didn’t even think of calling the police because I knew I would have to
leave the house, the children as well (G.I).
Commitment towards the partner. Hope that the violent behaviour of the
partner will change, forgiveness and commitment towards the marriage,
even though there is an incongruity between the current relationship and the
relationship they wish for:
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I didn’t think of calling the police, even though this wasn’t the first
time it happened, I thought he’ll change and that we'll manage to get
along without involving the police (C.T.E).
Children. The existence of children is a key factor in decision making:
Yes, I know and I’m aware that what he did was against the law, but I
couldn’t do anything because he is the father of the children (Sz.K.).
Lack of resources. Poor financial resources and the lack of social support:
No one would have come, they don’t want to get involved, not even my
family and I didn’t have witnesses…so how could you expect the others
to believe you (A.A).
Attitudes regarding violence. Violence is perceived as a problem that
needs to be solved inside the family, the belief that abuse is the consequence
of their behaviour.
The perception of their role as mothers and wifes. the wish of women to
have a united family, no matter the circumstances. As for the unity of the
family, as mothers, women consider that the presence of both parents is
important, in spite of the violence, and as wives, they want to offer
unconditional love:
He hit me a few times, but I forgave him. He apologised, he said he’d

change… so I forgave him and got over everything (A.B.).
I consider that children are children and that they must live together
with their mother and their father and not… I don’t know what can be
done (M.A.).
Perception of the criminal justice system by the women who don’t use it
Other obstacles add to those presented above. They are the result of the
perception of women victims of domestic violence of the criminal justice
system. Women who don‟t use the criminal justice system perceive police
intervention as being inefficient, inadequate for domestic violence situations.
The most used procedure in case of domestic violence is to give a fine,
procedure that is not seen as a factor that can increase the victim's safety.
Moreover, in most of the cases, this procedure has consequences for the
victim, who suffers more violence, or she is forced to pay the fine:
Yes, I thought about it...what could they do to him? Maybe give him a
fine, they couldn't do more. That’s all... (S.D.)
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An example of the way in which police intervenes in the community:
If he fights or he hits his wife, he’s given a fine and then they let him go.
When they come back, they hit their women because they called the
police and they were given a fine. In the end the woman who called the
police is forced to pay the fine (S.D.).
On the other hand, police intervention is perceived as being
fragmented, each violence episode is addressed as if it were unique, the
violence dynamics is not taken into consideration, the cyclical character of
the violence is addressed just like in the situations where the victim and the
offender don't live together:
Maybe they would come once to separate us till things calm down, to
give us a warning, so that violence stops for a moment, but afterwards
violence starts all over again. Go to the police over and over again? He
is given a fine over and over again... this doesn’t look like a solution to
me… he would be upset with me because I did that, he would calm
down for a while and afterwards, you know how it works…this will
cause more problems… I try to avoid that, no, I wouldn’t be afraid to
call the police if necessary, God forbid, of course I would… no, I
wouldn’t be ashamed, if necessary, no (F.L.).
Previous negative experiences with the police were also mentioned:
I don’t think it is very useful because I called them last year when some
people attacked me in the street and they didn’t help me. I don’t really
trust them. I think they’d scare him, but I wouldn’t be given more help
(L.S.).
Police emergency interventions
When do women contact the police?
We found that women contact the police after repeated episodes of violence
(only in a few cases police intervention was called for during the first
incidents of violence) and when they feel that violence becomes unbearable,
dangerous, with unpredictable consequences (in the case of serious violence
episodes that need immediate medical intervention, or when they fear for
their physical safety and the safety of their children). We also found that,
before calling police, women look for the support of family members,
friends, actually preferring the support of people close to them.
26
The involvement of children
In most of the cases women mentioned that children were present during
violent episodes, their main response being that of support, attempts to look
for help, the wish to protect their mother and involvement in contacting the
police:
(...) he used to hit the girl and me, when I made a sign she went and
brought the police (K.I.).
My boy encouraged me, mom go to the police, the girl was afraid, she
was ashamed of colleagues and neighbours (R.A.).
The women also mentioned those situations in which children are
scared by the violent partner in order to prevent them to ask police for help.
Perpetrators create confusion in children regarding who is responsible for
the abuse. In these cases, they often undermine the mother and use children
against her:
I was in a real and big danger.... The girls understood and helped me.
They gave me advice and supported me. They even pushed me to do
what I did. On the other hand, the boys totally agreed with their father,
not with me. And no… They only answered their father's wishes, not
mine. On the contrary, I had many troubles with them and the conflict
of opinions between us grew bigger… They didn’t understand me. They
don’t understand me today either (G.R.).
Police intervention
Regarding this aspect we tried to identify the relationship between police

intervention and women‟s expectations, analysing the level of satisfaction as
well as the perceived usefulness of emergency interventions. Analysing
women‟s expectations, we found that they need a fast, immediate and
oriented intervention in order to stop violence. The need for safety is
considered a priority. Another important aspect highlighted in the
interviews was addressing emergency calls with all the seriousness needed,
the ability to assess the risk and the danger even in the situation when the
woman is forced by the offender not to give a statement, not to open the
door or to deny the violence.
27
As for the actual police intervention, we identified the following

possible means of intervention:
1. The police officers are worried about the safety of the victims, they do
something on spot to protect them and then they leave. Providing physical safety
during violence escalation is important for women, but it is not a solution
that can prove efficient on the long term:
Police came with me after he beat me and my mother. The policemen

stood in front of our door until he left… I was left alone with the
children. The policemen left as well. No warning for him, nothing. (…)
I thought they were going to arrest him. Nothing happened. Then I ran
away from home (A. J.).
They gave him a warning, that he shouldn’t do such things anymore,
because he has a child. After a while they came, they calmed him down
and they left. This happened over and over again (J.I.).
2. Make the offender promise he will not beat his partner any more. Women
say that the promises of change made by the offenders don‟t work, that is
why they need violence to be recognised as an offence:
The policeman said: ‘If she withdraws the complaint, you will have to
make a written statement that you will not beat her anymore ‘. He
wrote it but he has forgotten about it. He still beats me (Sz.K.).
Police made him give a statement that he would not beat me anymore.
He gave a statement and he still beats me. Police has already had
enough of me. They said I should go to court. But no one cares about me
there (A.F.).
3. Apply a warning or an administrative fine to the offender. We found that
in some situations giving a warning or an administrative fine can slow down
violence. In other situations these measures don‟t have the expected result:
I called the Police, they gave him a fine so that he would mind his own
business. Nobody has paid the fine. He has never paid it. The fine is still
unpaid today. The police used to give him a fine and then leave. I called
the police dozens of time (M.C.).
I called and waited for them to come and then... They gave him fines or
they told him: so they told him to leave me alone. Yes, it was good. I
didn’t have any problems No... Police did their job. I was pleased
(M.M.).
4. Apply a warning for the perpetrator and for the victim. In cases where
both partners are held accountable by giving them a warning, abuse is not
28
recognised as being an offence. This measure discourages the victim from

using the criminal justice system and holds both partners accountable for
domestic violence. As presented in the following example, the case is
addressed as if it were a matter of disturbing the peace, thus denying
violence:
Once I called the police from the park. I needed their help. I was beaten
by my husband and no one intervened. Police came and gave a warning
to both of us for disturbing the peace in a public place (D.C.).
5. Punish the victim. The victim and the offender switch roles, the
violent situation is not addressed as a whole. Thus, all the previous steps
undertaken by the victim in order to receive protection and to sound the
alarm on her situation are ignored. In this way the offender is absolved from
responsibility:
Once he broke a mirror and beat our child too, he was a baby, then I
couldn’t control myself, I took a knife and I told him not to dare to beat
us again. I scratched him, there was blood, it was a superficial wound.
He called the police, one of the policemen knew us already…they had
been to our house for around 14 times and didn’t do anything, just a
few warnings and once fine. Police saw many times that I had bruises; I
even gave a statement 3 times. Nothing happened. Do you know what
happened now? They hand-cuffed me and they took me away in front of
the child (B.G.).
6. Take the offender into custody at the police station. Taking the offender
into custody is seen as an efficient measure by most of the women living in a
serious violent situation, but has only short term effects:
They would take him to the police station, and then let him free. He
would then come back home and beat the hell out of me (Sz.K.).
On the other hand we found that in spite of similar measures (fine,
warning), women‟s level of satisfaction is different. The level of satisfaction
and the victim‟s trust in police is higher when police gave realistic
information, specific to women‟s needs, when they showed respect towards
the victim, made the offender aware of his responsibilities and assured the
victim they will come back in case of a new violent episode.
Should we analyse the efficiency of the intervention from the point of
view of victims' safety, women that have experienced serious violence for a
long time confirm that, following police intervention, violent partners used
29
intimidation and threats (death threats), and that they had to experience
even more violence. The severity of the violent situation diminished
especially in the case of women that asked police for help starting with the
first episodes of violence or in the cases where the level of danger was small.
The criminal investigation
Many women didn‟t file a preliminary complaint, and a high percentage of

those that filed a complaint have withdrawn it afterwards. There is a variety
of reasons for not filing a complaint.
Not knowing the procedures or the possible consequences. Many of the
women weren‟t informed by the police officers about the importance of
filing a preliminary complaint:
I didn’t know I had to file a complaint, they (the policemen) didn’t tell
me, they didn’t tell me about the evidence either (M.M.).
We can also see reluctance towards filing a complaint in those situations in
which the victims don‟t anticipate the consequences of their report.
Previous negative experiences with the criminal justice system – women
that had already been confronted with the criminal justice system‟s
powerlessness were discouraged from reporting the violence:
Yes I called from the first time he started to become violent. Even his
mother went and reported him to the police and they gave him a fine.
He hit her many times and she went and paid the fine for him. So we
didn’t gain anything, either I called the police or someone else did,
nothing happened (R.D.).
Their own safety, the fear of violence escalation in case they file a
complaint.
The wish to protect the offender for various reasons (children, dependency,
loyalty etc.):
I would like to know him away, arrested, and to live a safe life, without
him. But I didn’t want to do this to my child… It is his father, how
could I put him in a jail (A.A.).
Filing a preliminary complaint is usually characterised and followed
by shame, fear of violence escalation, of the offender‟s revenge, fear of the
economical consequences, fear of losing friends and family support. In some
30
cases these feelings were accompanied by positive feelings such as

„liberation‟, „relief‟, „peace‟ as a result of the fact that someone, who has the
authority and the possibility to intervene, listened to them and believed
them in a safe environment.
Withdrawal may take place at any moment of the intervention. It
usually takes place at the police station. The reasons for withdrawal are
similar to the reasons for not using the criminal justice system or to those for
not filing a preliminary complaint; they are fear of violence escalation,
financial and/or emotional dependency on the offender:
I never got to court because he made me withdraw my complaint. He

threatened me, I was afraid, so I withdrew my complaint. The problem
is that he has 7 brothers, they are 7; I, on the other hand, am alone,
there is nobody to help me. His brothers, whatever I tell him, will lash
out at me (I.D.).
The files can be closed at the level of the Prosecutor‟s Office for
different reasons, e.g. lack of evidences, or the offender may be punished by
the prosecutor who gives him an administrative fine.
Many women were not informed of the Prosecutor's Office decision to
close the file. The only thing they knew was that they wrote many
statements, but nothing happened:
So I filed a complaint and nothing happened afterwards. No one came

to talk to me, the file wasn’t sent to the Prosecutor’s Office, it never got
to court, it was never prosecuted. No (B.I.).
As for the perceived usefulness of filing a complaint, we observe
disappointment with regard to making the offender aware of his
responsibilities:
I wanted him to be a bit afraid of authorities and of Romanian

legislation. That they will make him realise that playing with someone
else’s life is not something to be done. To make him aware that he is
responsible of his deeds. But no… Unfortunately… It wasn’t difficult
to file a complaint. It was a shock and shocking to me to hear the
answers the police gave me, that they can’t do more than give him a fine
2 times, 3 times… 20 times (R.B).
Nevertheless we found that in some situations there was a feeling of
satisfaction as a result of collaborating with the authorities and of their
behaviour:
31
I was pleased, I understood that they couldn’t do more… but they were
there for me (D.N.).
The trial
Of the total of 76 women interviewed, only 2 actually went to court. In both

cases the punishment given was a fine. Both women divorced until they
reached this phase – probably the main reason for which they didn‟t
withdraw their complaint and both of them were supported by
representatives of a women‟s organisation, respectively of a shelter during
the court case.
The women were disappointed by the long duration of the trial, by the
lawyers‟ and the judges‟ behaviour (one of them changed 3 lawyers because
they treat her case as a conflictual situation and not as a violence situation)
but most of all they were disappointed by the outcome of the court case, by
the punishment received by the offender. Nevertheless both women think
that everything was worth it, they felt powerful:
I could do it until the end, I could defend myself (D.C.).
Other court involvements
Most of the women chose separation or divorce as a way of overcoming

violence. A certain amount of financial independence makes a difference
when taking the decision to file for divorce. Many women file for divorce,
then they withdraw, and this happens many times, most of the times
children being the reason for reconciliation:
We were reconciled for the children, I saw how glad they were at the
meetings, but to no avail, violence continues, they suffer as well (S.K.).
In the case of a court case, as well as in the case of a divorce, women
face the difficulty of convincing those that know about the violent situation
to testify as witnesses in court. Victims of domestic violence say that the
support they received mainly came from professionals. On the other hand
there was some pressure seen from family and relatives in favour of not
reporting violence and not involving the criminal justice system.
32
Unfortunately neither divorce nor separation don‟t provide safety to

the victims. Women with children especially say that violence episodes can
continue even after separation, because the ex-partner still lives in the house
or because of the visiting hours set by the court.
Discussions
In our research we have found two categories of obstacles which hold back
women from using the criminal justice system. Firstly, those which are
related to the women‟s situation, including her feelings (fear, shame and the
hope that everything will be all right in the future), the lack of material
resources, attitudes from the family (including children‟s attitudes) and,
secondly, their perceptions of the criminal justice system (police intervention
is seen as inefficient and inadequate, fragmented or not to be trusted). Our
findings mirror the findings of the international research studies. Victims
may experience some level of fear about the consequences of seeking legal
assistance. Some victims may fear that the abuse will escalate in severity and
frequency (Johnson 2007). Other victims may not call the police because of
their perception that legal intervention leads to separation (Felson et al. 2002)
or because of the hope that the abuse will stop without legal intervention.
Fear of financial dependence, for the welfare of their children, and the lack
of support from families and friends, combined with their own desire to
save their marriages are also obstacles in their seeking legal assistance
(Davis and Smith 1995).
As we can see, these obstacles (fear, lack of social support, myths) act
on many different levels, from the individual, family (relationship with the
offender and children), and community (intervention of the police, lack of
services), to larger social and cultural levels, resulting in complex, powerful
barriers when it comes to use the criminal justice system. This shows the
importance of approaching intervention on more levels.
Warnings and fines seem to be inefficient measures in most of the
cases, not to mention fines applied to the victim or arresting the victim.
Regarding the emergency interventions of the police, our findings show that
the only effective police intervention which provides safety (for a short
period) is the police custody of the perpetrator, which is very rarely applied.
33
Writers in the field mention that police in Romania are practically

helpless in domestic violence situations. Muntean et al. (2000) consider that
when the police are called, and they answer the call, the measures taken can
boomerang on the woman. Besides the fact that these measures tend to be
fines that affect the family budget, police officers don‟t usually take into
account the fact that when they‟re gone the offender probably becomes more
violent.
According to Radu and Radu (2004) following an emergency call, the
police, in practice, arrive at the crime scene, apply an administrative fine to
the aggressor and leave, because if the injured party states explicitly that
they don't intend to file a complaint, the police are unable to take any other
measures (removing the aggressor, or arresting the offender).
Concerning the legal classification of offences from the perspective of
the police, it is important to mention Law no. 61/1991 on punishment of the
offences against rules of social life and public order. According to this law,
„chasing away the husband, the wife, the children as well as any other
dependants‟ is an offence. This law also punishes insults, swear words,
threats of violence shouted in public against a person, as well as disturbing
the peace of those living in the same building through loud noise or
vociferations. This document often creates a framework for police
intervention (Muntean, Popescu and Popa 2002).
As regards to Law no. 61/1991, this law stipulates that a police officer
can refer the case to the court and ask for imprisonment. Even though in this
case there is a rapid procedure, 24 hours, with an immediate enforcement of
the punishment, this provision is never put into practice in cases of domestic
violence (Muntean, Popescu and Popa 2002).
Important findings of our research were those related to the non-legal
factors of the police intervention. Following police intervention some
women talked about feeling satisfied with the seriousness and respect with
which they were treated by the police. Also they came away feeling they
were realistically informed.
Similar findings were described by Russel and Light (2006). According
to them there are three dimensions of police response that had an impact on
the victims‟ satisfaction and were observed in other studies: integrated team
when police, victims and all actors of the criminal justice system work
34
together. A second dimension of police response was observed as being

efficient, when the police was deserving/taking into account the
perspectives of the victims. In this case deserving means that the police was
taking the victims‟ concerns seriously, they were not blaming the victims,
and instead they were trying to understand the situation from the victims‟
perspectives. A third dimension was the proactive versus pro-forma
response of the police. Proactive police responses were those entailing active
measures to ensure victim safety and empowerment. In contrast, pro-forma
responses were police responses that consisted of minimal intervention or
even avoidance of required intervention (Russell and Light 2006).
According to the provisions of the Criminal Code for the crimes of
assault and battery committed against a family member the indictment is
conditioned by the complaint of the aggrieved person, except for crimes of
severe personal injury, of death causing injuries and murder, in these cases
the indictment is made by default2. The criminal proceeding for crimes
punishable on the injured person‟s preliminary complaint is however
governed by the principle of availability. This means that the injured person
may decide to withdraw the preliminary complaint or, when possible, to
reconcile with the offender, a situation which stops the previously started
criminal proceedings, even if it was started by default, except in case of
severe personal injury (Radu and Radu 2004)3.
According to our findings many women withdrew their complaints for
different reasons (e.g. fear of violence escalation, financial and/or emotional
dependency on the offender). The results of other studies regarding
2 With regard to the crime of hitting or other forms of violence, article 180 para. 3 of the
Romanian Criminal Code reads as follows: „Criminal action is initiated upon prior complaint
from the injured person. For the acts in para. 1 and 2 criminal action may also be initiated ex
officio.‟ Paragraphs 1 and 2 refer to the acts of hitting or other forms of violence which are
committed against family members. Also, with regard to the crime of bodily harm, which is
provided for in art 181 of the Romanian Criminal Code, the second paragraph of art 181 reads
as follows: „Criminal action is initiated upon prior complaint from the injured person. For the
acts in para. 1, criminal action may also be initiated ex officio.‟ For both crimes, the Criminal
Code stipulates that: „Reconciliation of parties removes criminal liability, and it also takes
effect in cases in which the criminal action was initiated ex officio.‟ (art. 180 para. 4 and art
181 para. 3, The Criminal Code).
3 Art. 131 of the Criminal Code reads as follows: „In the case of an offence for which the
initiation of criminal action is conditioned by the lodging of a criminal complaint from the
injured person, the lack of such a complaint removes the criminal responsibility.‟
35
withdrawal show that some victims did not want the abusers to be arrested
and indicated that they would not call the police again for fear of future
arrest of the abusers. Sometimes the request for legal intervention is based
on victims' desire for the presence of police officers to stop the abuse but not
to arrest the abuser (Johnson 2007).
Besides the withdrawal of the preliminary complaints many files are
closed by the police and the prosecution office for lack of evidence. The lack
of evidences is the specificity of these cases. APFR (2006) in their research
shows that in more than 50% of the cases they analysed there were no
evidences. Our findings show that many women were not even informed
about any following action of the police or of the prosecution service. As we
saw, there were only two women who went to the court, in both of the cases
the punishment was a fine.
Courts tend to minimize the seriousness of domestic violence related
crimes and apply reduced penalties even in situations where the specific
gravity of the crime is high, and in the case of first act of assault or battery,
the punishment consists of a fine and it is usually suspended4. Although this
type of crime is very frequently met in practice, only a few cases are brought
to court (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from US
Department of State 2008).
4 As stated by the law, the penalty upon conviction for committing the crime of hitting or
other forms of violence causing physical suffering to family members is 6 months‟ - 1 year‟s
imprisonment or a fine (art. 180 para. 11). If the above-mentioned crime causes an injury that
needs medical care of up to 20 days, the penalty provided by the law is 1-2 years‟
imprisonment or a fine (art. 180 para 21). For bodily harm caused to a family member needing
up to 60 days of medical care, the law prescribes a term of imprisonment from one to 5 years
(art. 181 para 11 The Criminal Code). The suspended prison sentence is provided for in art 81
of the Criminal Code, which reads as follows: „The Court may order the suspension of the
prison sentence for a certain period of time, if the following conditions are met: a.) the penalty
applied is no more than 3 years or a fine b.) the offender has not been previously sentenced to
a penalty of imprisonment of more than 6 months, except for the cases when the conviction
falls under the situations provided for in Art 38 c.) it is deemed that the purpose of the
penalty can be attained even without it being served. A suspended prison sentence may also
be applied to a concurrence of offences, if the penalty on conviction is imprisonment of no
more than 2 years and the conditions of para. (1) b) and c) are met.‟
36
Conclusions
Our research shows the complex relationship that exists between victims‟
needs, especially their need for safety, and criminal justice outcomes. The
„justice gap‟ is huge. Many cases are lost at different levels of the criminal
justice system. To reduce this gap, obvious changes are needed in terms of
criminal justice policies and culture.
In order for women to benefit from protection there is a need for a
complex and coordinated intervention from the agencies involved (police,
family support, the involvement of social services, DGASPC – The General
Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection), legal information and
long term support for the victims.
Women expect the representatives of the criminal justice system to
intervene rapidly, immediately, to apply efficient safety measures, such as
the evacuation of the offender in crisis situations, issuing a restraining order
against the perpertrator so that he would not approach the house, or go back
to the house, and collaboration with the professionals of DGASPC. Women
do not usually want the perpetrator to go to prison, with the exception of
severe forms of violence, but they want to trust the criminal justice system
and they want justice to be done.
From the point of view of the decision making process regarding the
collaboration with the criminal justice system, children‟s response have a
huge influences on the women‟s decision. The way women perceive the
influence it will have the involvement of the criminal justice system on the
welfare and the safety of the children is of vital importance (this will also
influence the decision to make an emergency call, to file a complaint, etc.).
A woman‟s decision to remain in or leave a violent situation, to report
domestic violence, to collaborate with the criminal justice system depends
on her needs, on the alternatives available (social, legal) and on the support
received. These needs change during the course of the intervention. Using
the criminal justice system represents a stress factor, can cause many
frustrations (e.g. move to a shelter, collaborate with police and with child
protection services, prepare for the trial, need for financial resources etc.).
The women, who went through with the criminal trial, were among those
who benefited from long term professional support from an independent
counsellor working in the frame of an NGO. Furthermore, for the women it
37
is important to involve and to inform them at every stage of the intervention

as they constantly refer to the multiple safety need: physical, emotional,
economical.
Generally the changing of police practices and cultural changes can be
difficult to achieve (Hester 2005). Our research shows that police
intervention is felt to be inadequate because it does not provide the safety
that these women need. More often than not the police perceive domestic
violence as a personal, family problem and by not stepping in or by
reducing the intervention to paying a fine they achieve one goal only,
namely, to discourage these women from any future contact with the
criminal justice system. However, by comparison with the research
conducted in 2000, Victimele Violenţei Domestice (Muntean, Popescu and
Popa 2000) our results indicate that police treatment in some of the
situations had a positive turn, some victimized women felt supported by the
police as a result of their being treated (in some cases) with seriousness and
respect. Even if the outcome of police intervention generally was not
efficient in terms of safety or further violence, women felt encouraged by the
positive attitude of the police as a result of the concern, support and
information they got from policemen. This highlights the importance of non-
legislative factors of criminal justice intervention.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the research team and also our associate partners, who through their
help and their work have enabled us to bring this project to fruition: international
WOSAFEJUS team, „Alternative Sociale‟ Association Iaşi, Cluj County Police Inspectorate,
General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Cluj, The Public Prosecutor‟s
Office attached to the Courthouse of Cluj Napoca, the Courthouse of Cluj Napoca, DAS Cluj
Napoca, SPAS Turda. We would like to thank also the women, victims of domestic violence
who collaborate with us and shared their experiences.
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Bailey, Kimberly. 2010. Lost in translation: domestic violence, "the personal
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Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from US Department of

State. 2008. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2008 Human
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http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eur/119100.htm
Center for Partnership and Equality. 2003. The National Research on
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What are the main factors that influence a woman's decision to stay in or leave the criminal justice process?

What are the main factors that influence a woman's decision to stay in or leave the criminal justice process?

What are women's expectations of the criminal justice system in dealing with domestic violence cases?

What are women's expectations of the criminal justice system in dealing with domestic violence cases?

Women Victims of Domestic Violence: Analysis of Their

Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System in Romania

Imola Antal¹, Júlia Szigeti¹, Maria Stoleru¹ 

Criminal justice interventions are important to reduce

SOCIAL CHANGE REVIEW

Feminists have been campaigning for the criminalization of domestic

In Romania the criminalization of domestic violence got some

Data and research in Romania

homicide, followed by family abandonment (21.5%) and by hitting and other

The WOSAFEJUS research. Methodological aspects

In order to establish a detailed and triangulated picture of how the

The analysis of the interviews revolved around two main themes:

Analysis of the results

Obstacles of using the Criminal Justice System

He hit me a few times, but I forgave him. He apologised, he said he’d

An example of the way in which police intervenes in the community:

Police emergency interventions

When do women contact the police?

The involvement of children

Regarding this aspect we tried to identify the relationship between police

As for the actual police intervention, we identified the following

Police came with me after he beat me and my mother. The policemen

recognised as being an offence. This measure discourages the victim from

The criminal investigation

Many women didn‟t file a preliminary complaint, and a high percentage of

cases these feelings were accompanied by positive feelings such as

I never got to court because he made me withdraw my complaint. He

So I filed a complaint and nothing happened afterwards. No one came

I wanted him to be a bit afraid of authorities and of Romanian

Of the total of 76 women interviewed, only 2 actually went to court. In both

I could do it until the end, I could defend myself (D.C.).

Other court involvements

Most of the women chose separation or divorce as a way of overcoming

Unfortunately neither divorce nor separation don‟t provide safety to

Writers in the field mention that police in Romania are practically

together. A second dimension of police response was observed as being

is important to involve and to inform them at every stage of the intervention

Agenţia Naţională pentru Protecţia Familiei. Statistici 2009.

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from US Department of

Sherman, Lawrence W. and Richard A. Berk. 1984. The specific deterrent

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