On June 13, Necuvinte Association submitted a series of detailed proposals to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the attention of Mr. Cătălin PREDOIU, Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs, regarding the improvement of the safety of women and girls in Romania and a better management of current resources. Among these, we briefly mention a few proposals that can be implemented in the short term, with long-term effects:

1. Introduction at the level of the 112 system: specific index for acts of domestic violence. From the response received from the Special Telecommunications Service, we understood that the use of the index “conflicts and physical aggressions” is agreed with the intervention agencies. This index cannot provide a comprehensive picture of everything that the phenomenon of domestic violence in Romania covers, based on the one hand on the 8 (eight) forms of violence recognised and defined by Law no. 217/2003 on the prevention and combating of domestic violence and on the other hand on the extremely complex dynamics of this phenomenon, which may include suicide attempts, self-harm or endangerment of other people, calls which are currently classified in different categories, diluting the realistic image of the phenomenon in everyday life in Romania.

2. Introduction of a specific index for all forms of violence against women and girls.

3. In addition to the structure created at the central level of the Romanian Police, the creation at the level of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police of 8 (eight) specialized structures corresponding to the 8 (eight) development regions, teams dedicated to adult victims of crimes in the field of domestic, sexual and gender violence, on the model of the “Special Victims Unit” from other countries. The history of police structures all over the world, as well as that of the Romanian Police, has demonstrated that units specialized in a certain type of crime have an almost immediate effect of increasing results in that field. In this regard, we have detailed how we see the format of these structures and the activities that we consider that these structures should perform.

4.Inclusion in the risk assessment form to be completed for the issuance of a temporary protection order: Information related to a history of non-fatal strangulation as an indicator of imminent risk. Non-fatal strangulation (NFS Non-Fatal Strangulation) occurs when pressure is applied to the neck, blocking the flow of oxygen to the brain, but without leading to death. This represents a strong indicator of lethal risk in cases of domestic violence and a major risk factor for murder or attempted murder of women. Since “a person who has been subjected to non-fatal strangulation by an intimate partner is 750% more likely to be subsequently killed by the same aggressor.” Statistical data and specialized studies demonstrate the need to introduce this element in the risk assessment form. Women are the main victims of strangulation or asphyxiation by manual or ligature. We mention here just a few data provided in the detailed proposal submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

• After 7 seconds – the strangled person may lose consciousness or faint;
• After 15 seconds – the strangled person may lose bladder control;
• After 30 seconds – the strangled person may lose bowel control;
• After 1 minute – the strangled person may die.

5.Introducing into the risk assessment form information regarding the fact that the victim was forced to have sexual intercourse by the alleged aggressor. Starting with 2014, with the amendment of the criminal legislation, the crime of marital rape was excluded from the Criminal Code, currently being an aggravating crime of rape, difficult to prove and under-reported, but the Criminal Code clearly provides that the lack of consent in a sexual act, regardless of the relationship between the persons involved, constitutes a crime.

6. Introduction to the police schools “Vasile Lascăr” Câmpina and “Septimiu Mureșan” Cluj-Napoca, as well as to the “Alexandru Iona Cuza” Police Academy in Bucharest of a course related to victimology specific to victims of domestic and gender violence, with a detailed description of the circle of violence, intervention based on understanding trauma and centered on the victim of the crime, the forms of manifestation and their framing in the current legal provisions. The course must also contain notions related to language and behaviour in working with victims of domestic and gender violence, addressing, active listening, hearing procedures.

7. Creating a unique manual of hearing procedures sensitive to the trauma suffered by victims and specific to the typology of domestic and gender crimes, especially for adult victims – recommendation from participants in the training course organised by Necuvinte Association with the support of the United States Department of State in January this year, which took place at the Palace of Parliament and was attended by police officers, prosecutors, judges and psychologists from the Social Assistance Directorates in Bucharest.

8. Extending the legal obligation for a psychologist to participate in hearings with minor victims to hearings with adult victims. The presence of a psychology specialist helps reduce revictimization, understand how trauma manifests itself in memory, the way in which abuse is reported, gestures, facial expressions and behaviour.

9. Facilitating a better institutional communication both at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and at the level of the subordinate institutions, especially the Romanian Police and the Romanian Gendarmerie. The lack of rapid official communications, in real time or in the shortest possible time on causes that capture the public interest, leaves room for imagination and brings a great disservice to the safety of citizens, whose level of trust in public institutions decreases, has a discouraging effect and can lead to other tragedies by extension. A large part of our work also consists of encouraging women and girls to call the police despite all the messages in the online space that discourage them from doing so. It is very important that the institution of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Romanian Police and the Romanian Gendarmerie support us in this work of encouraging women and girls to ask for help.

Excerpt from the document with proposals submitted by the Necuvinte Association to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the attention of Mr. Cătălin PREDOIU, Acting Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs.