RIGHTS-ROMANIA: Domestic Violence On The Rise

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Marian Chiriac

BUCHAREST, Feb 1 2001 (IPS) - For three years Maria Neagu, 28, mother of five young children, was beaten almost daily by her husband.

“He had no proper reason for doing this. Suddenly he started to drink too much and transformed himself into a beast, most probably because he lost a good job,” says an emotional Maria.

The children, vacant-looking and listless, huddle around her as she tells her tale.

The situation deteriorated so much that Maria was forced to leave her marriage home. The going was tough as nobody, including friends or relatives, offered her any moral or financial support.

Eventually Maria found a home in Valea Plopului, a huddle of gingerbread-trimmed cottages tucked below the Carpathian mountains, 100 kms north of Bucharest, Romania’s capital.

An Orthodox priest, Nicolae Tanase, runs in this village as a safe heaven for homeless children and single mothers.

Nine years ago, together with other believers including doctors and priests, Father Tanase founded Pro Vita, a non- governmental organization devoted to the born and unborn child.

One by one he began bringing maltreated women and abandoned children to his parish in Valea Plopului, encouraging the community to take care for them.

“Our initiative is unique in Romania, and we run it without any help from the state. Right now, we are hosting 208 persons here, most of them in the houses of Valea Plopului residents. Almost 100 children are now cared for by village foster families,” says Father Tanase.

In Romania there is no organized state-run network for victims of domestic violence.

The Orthodox Church, the major religion in this Eastern European country, is currently hosting people in need in monasteries or parishes and recently launched a campaign to raise money to build-up a shelter for maltreated women.

The conditions are very poor as the village is located in one of the most impoverished parts of Romania.

Maria Neagu, for example, lives with her five children in a bungalow with no indoor plumbing. But they do not complain about the crowded conditions. They are only too glad to be safe.

Domestic violence is on the increase in Romania. According to official statistics crimes committed in families, affecting mainly women and children, account for 12 per cent of the country’s overall crimes.

Last year, as many as 2,248 persons – mainly women aged between 18 and 34 – were victims of violence committed in their families, up from 1,814 in 1999, an Interior Ministry report shows.

Of the 110 murders committed in 1999, 70 victims were family members, including two children.

The report also expresses concern over a rise in cases of rape, incest and paedophilia, but says that no exact number of such crimes is available as many of the victims do not file complaints fearing comments in their communities.

The police have also reported a shift in the bulk of crimes within families from the urban to rural areas.

Children are among the most affected by domestic violence. Last week, local press reported extensively about a four-year old boy who was paralyzed after being beaten by his mother. The case has been described as the worst case of parental violence encountered in the last three years.

A joint recent study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the World Bank found that almost half of the 1,556 families surveyed beat their children and 38 percent humiliated or verbally abused them.

According to the study almost one in 10 Romanian children have been sexually abused and about half of the country’s 5.1 million children suffer from severe neglect.

“What makes Romania a special case is the old, traditional mentality among parents that severe and frequent physical abuse might discipline children,” says psychologist Ioana Popescu.

“What no survey says is that also many children are prevented from going to school and forced to work, take care of siblings or beg.”

However, economic analysts point to poverty as a source of Romania’s social vows, including a rise in domestic violence.

The living standards of Romanians are plunging constantly. One in five people here are living below the poverty line. The average salary is just 100 US dollars a month – barely enough for families to cover rent and food.

On his part, Father Tanase is convinced that a spiritual malaise underlies Romania’s social crisis. “Men beat their wives or parents beat their children, not because they are poor, but because they do not have the fear of God in their soul. The root cause is a lack of faith.”

Faced with the rise in domestic violence, local authorities are trying to cope with the situation.

The newly-appointed Minister of Justice, Rodica Stanoiu, the first woman in such a position here, said domestic violence should be treated as a separate offence under the criminal code, now subject to changes under a reform package of the justice system.

Romania has yet to align its legislation to Western standards in its bid to join the European Union.