Monitorul Social: Romania - among EU countries with highest rate of violence against women in relationships

Romania is among the EU countries with the highest rate of violence against women in relationships, according to Eurostat data, processed by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania.According to a press release sent on Monday, the phenomenon of violence against women is higher in Romania compared to other EU countries.''Intimate partner's violence against women is widespread in all residential environments and regardless of the level of education, but it is found in a higher percentage in rural areas and among those with lower education,'' the cited source specifies.According to the Social Monitor, almost half of Romanian women (45.5%) have suffered psychological violence from their intimate partner, compared to the EU average of 29.9%, our country ranking fourth, after Hungary, where 52.1% of women have suffered psychological violence from their intimate partner, Finland (50.2%) and Slovakia (48.9%).''It is an alarming indicator regarding the control, manipulation, insults and frequent intimidation in relationships'', the cited source states.A quarter of Romanian women (25.4%) have suffered physical violence, including threats from their intimate partner, a percentage double the EU average (10.7%)."When we include all serious forms of violence (psychological, physical and sexual) perpetrated by an intimate partner, almost one in two women in Romania who have ever had a partner (48.9%) say they have been affected, compared to 31.8% in the EU," the statement added.Intimate partner violence against women in Romania is more widespread among those with low education. 60.4% of women with low education (at most secondary school graduates) said they had been victims of intimate partner violence, while 47.9% of those with medium education (high school or post-secondary education) reported such experiences. Even among those with higher education, 35.8% said they had been victims of intimate partner violence. At the European level, there is no difference in the frequency of gender-based violence in couples depending on the level of education, the cited source states.In terms of residence, it is observed that violence in couples is more widespread in rural areas and in small towns.In Romania, half of the women in rural areas (50.3%) who have ever had a partner declared that they were victims of violence from their partner, ranking first in the EU, followed by Slovakia (where 48.2% of women in rural areas have experienced violence from their partner), Finland (48.0%), Hungary (47.9%) and Sweden (46.7%) - the European average being 29.6%.Among urban women, the percentage of those who have ever experienced violence from a partner is 46.2% in Romania, in ninth place, with the EU average being 35.3%.Eurostat data comes from a survey conducted between 2021 and 2024, the results of which were published in November 2024. In Romania, the data were collected by private companies under the coordination of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Institute for Gender Equality, in accordance with the methodology of the EU survey on gender-based violence.''These data reflect a high level of violence against women in intimate partner relationships in Romania, a problem that requires firm intervention by the authorities. Among the necessary measures are the implementation of awareness-raising campaigns, the adoption of a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of violence, the teaching of concepts regarding consent, healthy relationships and gender equality in schools, the adequate training of personnel working with victims and the expansion of available support services (psychological, legal, social)'', Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania points out.  (Photo:https://flyone.eu/)