“Developing relationships with SARCs”

Dezvoltarea relațiilor cu Centrele Integrate de Sesizare a Agresiunilor Sexuale

Project funded by Her Britannic Majesty’s Embassy in Romania

Implementation period: January – March 2019

Total value of the project: 35.454 lei

SARCs – Sexual Assault Referral Centres represents a model of integrated intervention in cases of sexual violence. The approach is focused on victims and the provision of services meant to ensure their maximum comfort, taking into account also the collection of forensic evidence, the assistance by the police and the psychological counseling of the victim. These centers focus on the victim of the crime, all legal procedures are carried out in the same building, and the hearing is audio/video recorded so that it can be used in subsequent legal proceedings. The re-examination of the victim is done only in exceptional conditions.

At the level of the United Kingdom, there are currently 14 such centers offering specialized services for both categories of victims of sexual assault adult and minors.

The purpose of the project was to bring the British expertise to Romania in order to open a pilot assistance center for victims of sexual assault.

The delegation participating in the study visit brought together representatives of:

• The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police: Ms Giorgiana Stoian – Direction of Criminal Investigation/IGPR and Mr Bogdan Trandafir – Chief of Sexual Assault Office/Bucharest police
• National Institute of Forensic Medicine “Mina Minovici”: Mr prof. dr. Cristian Curcă, Director
• The Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice: Mr Bogdan Staicu, Prime-Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Court
• Representatives of Her Britannic Majesty’s Embassy in Romania
• Necuvinte Association

The National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men refused participation. No response was received at the sent invitation.

Necuvinte Association together with the institutional partners continues the efforts to see in Romania an integrated intervention system in the near future.

More details about the study visit and the visited locations can be found here: Study Visit UK.

Expenditure categories within the project:

• Study visit UK: 20.341,28 lei
• Experts fee UK and Romania: 7.338,5 lei
• Project prints: 7.720,6 lei
• Pro-bono contribution fromFedEx România: 1.100 lei

At the end of the project a brochure in bilingual Romanian-English format was created with useful information for rape and sexual assault cases.

The brochure was printed in 10,000 copies and distributed with the support of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police in the counties with the largest number of registered British citizens, as follows:

• 2.250 pcs – D.G.P.M.B (Bucharest Police)
• 2.250 pcs IPJ Ilfov (Ilfov County Police Inspectorate)
• 2.25o pcs IPJ Constanța (Constanța County Police Inspectorate)
• 2.250 pcs IPJ Cluj (Cluj County Police Inspectorate)
• 1.000 pcs distributed to Necuvinte Association partners from Bucharest and other counties.

The brochure created in this project can be downloaded from here:

 Rape and sexual assault guidelines