Child abuse in Romania Aniței -Micu Adelina [604153]

Child abuse in Romania Aniței -Micu Adelina

Child abuse in Romania
Policy paper

Child abuse in Romania Aniței -Micu Adelina
Contents
Executive summary ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 1
Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. 1
Problem description ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………… 3
Policy options ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. .. 7
Conclusions and Recommendations ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………………. 9
Bibliography ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. . 11

Key words
Child abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, public health field, violence , violence
prevention, prevalence, cases, recommendation.

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Executive summary
This policy paper aims to approach the issue of child abuse in Romania by sharing essential
information on the legislative framework, policy options, prevalence, causes , and consequences.
It also provides specific solutions and recommendations on how the public health field might be
able to inte rvene in monitoring the reports of child abuse . Additionally, public health
practitioners are capable of spread ing awareness in educating people regarding this problem and
in diminishing the future number of cases of child abuse.
The key stakeholders for child abuse prevention and response are not getting involved as much
as it is needed. This assumption is supported b y looking into the legislative framework, the
action taken by the Government , and the prevalence and new cases of abuse. Thus, some
recommendations were provided . The y were written through the lens of a public health
practitioner that aims at improving the status quo by providing useful prevention tools and
involving the key stakeholders in supporting the initiative .
The possible public health approache s provided in this paper were suggested by looking at what
has been already done in our country and what might be the mos t effective approach to this issue .
Most action s were undertaken by non-governmental organizations such as Salvați Copiii, public
institutions ( Protecția Copilului), World Health Organization , and other institutions .

Introduction
The topic of choice for this policy paper is child abuse in Romania. Abuse represents any
voluntary action of a person who is in a relation ship of responsibility , trust or authority to wards
the child , which endangers life, physical, mental, spiritu al, moral or social development, the
body integrity, physi cal or mental health of the child. I t classifies as physical, emotional,
psychological, sexual abuse and neglect . (Direcția Generală de Asistență Socială și Protecție a
Copilului Sibiu , n.d.). One of the reasons that make this subject relevant in the field of violence
and injury prevention is that it i ncludes all types of violence against children (abuse, neglect,
exploitation and child trafficking). Child abuse itself implies physical, mental violence (but not
only). The Cycle of Violence (Fig. 1), which is built up of four steps, starting from “Tension
Building ”, continuing with “Abuse Occurs ”, “Reconciliation / Making up ” and ending with
“Calm ”, shows that physical abuse is included (step “Abuse occurs”) . (STAND For Families
Free of Violence , n.d.)

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Fig. 1: Cycle of violence (STAND For Families Free of Violence, n.d.)
Child abuse is still happening in large numbers and causes a lot of damage on one of the most
vulnerable group . According to an article from World Health Or ganiz ation , violence (physical,
psychical) accounts for 1.4 million deaths per year, which corresponds to over 3800 people killed
every day. It can be prevented through the help of viole nce and injury prevention field and it is a
public health and human development problem t hat has to be diminished, even stopped. What
can be done by the Violence Prevention Units? They can raise awareness about the prevale nce,
the causes and the consequences of violence, develop tools to help the prevention, support other
measures taken by oth er countries for the persons that are exposed to violence, etc. (World
Health Organization, 2017)
This subject is also relevant to the public health field. The princi ples of public health provide a
useful framework to continuing to investigate, to understand the causes and consequences of
violence , and to preventing violence from occurring thr ough primary prevention program s,
policy inte rventions and advocacy. In Fig.2 , you can see the four steps of the public health
approach that is also used in violence prevention. The steps include: Defining the problem,
Establishing the causes (in this step research is conducted), Developing and evaluate the
intervention and Implementation (scaling up effective policy and programs i n order to evaluate
their impact). ( World Health Organiz ation – Violence Prevention , n.d.).

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Fig. 2 : The steps of the public health approach (World Health Organiz ation Violence Prevention,
n.d.)
Thus, the subject of child abuse is relevant for both public health and violence and injury
prevention field by bei ng a problem of human rights, population development and violence
adoption.
Problem description
According to Law 272/2004, child abuse represents any voluntary action of a person who is in
a relation of responsibility, trust or authority towards the child, which endangers life, physical,
mental, spiritual, moral or social development, the body integ rity, physical or mental health of
the child. It is classified as physical, emotional, sexual abuse but it also includes neglect, child
exploitation and child trafficking.
Physical abuse consists of bodily injury of the child within an interaction, happ ened once or
repeatedly, with a person being in a position of response, power or in relation of trust with them,
this resulting of an intentional act which products instant or future harm to the child. (Abuzul și
Neglijarea Copiilor, 2013)
Emotional abus e consists in repeated exposure of the child to situations whose emotional
impact exceeds its psychological integration capacity. It comes from an adult that has power over
the child (responsibility, trust etc.). This type of abuse typically includes verba l or non -verbal
humiliation, intimidation, threats, liberty of action restrictions, discrimination and any other

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hostile attitudes or denial of the child. If this type of abuse is repetitive, it can lead to
psychological abuse which has negative long -term outcomes. (Abuzul și Neglijarea Copiilor,
2013)
Sexual abuse represents the implication of a child or a minor in sexual activities that are not
understandable for them, that are inappropriate for their age or for their psycho -sexual
development, sexual a ctivities that are endured by them and that are constrained through
violence or seduction. These activities usually include physical contact, with or without sexual
penetration. This type of abuse can also include: sexual molestation, forcing the child to take part
in sexual actions, early marriage or early engagement which implies sexual intercourse, genital
mutilation, sexual harassment etc. (Abuzul și Neglijarea Copiilor, 2013)
Law 272/2004 presents neglect by having many forms such as: food neglect, c lothing neglect,
hygiene neglect, medical neglect, educational neglect, emotional neglect. The worst type of child
neglect is abandoning the child or family abandoning.
Child exploitation usually comes in two forms: sexual exploitation and work exploitat ion.
Sexual exploitation represents a pra ctice made usually by adults in which they get a reward
(money or a raise) by abusing/exploiting the child’s sexuality, breaking their rights to dignity,
equality, autonomy and physical or mental wellbeing. Some of the most common sexual
exploitation practices are: prostitution, sexual tourism, early marriage, pornography or striptease.
(Abuzul și Neglijarea Copiilor, 2013)
The last for m of child abuse, child trafficking, is made with the purpose of exploitation. It can
be in the real world but also online. (Abuzul și Neglijarea Copiilor, 2013)
Consequences of abuse on children are many. It varies from physical consequences (neurologic
problems, disabilities, diseases) t o low mental development, violent behavior in the future, low
self-esteem, anxiety, depression, self-aggression, inappropriate sexual behavior according to
their age , hospitaliz ation and even death. (Abuzul și Neglijarea Copiilor, 2013)
Victims and other people can report abuse cases. Some of the available procedures of reporting
a child abuse case are: calling 112 (the Police), the security guard (if it happens to be in an
institution), call 116 111 (Child’s Telephone Association) to make an assessment. Other ways of
reporting child abuse can include going directly to General Direction of Social Assistance and
Child Protection, filling an intimation that can be sent through post, through fax or e -mail to
abuz@dgaspc6.com etc. (Direcția Generală de Asisten ță Socială și Protecția Copilului Sector 6,
n.d.)
The reported cases of child abuse in Romania are incredibly high. According to an article
written by Georgiana Virginia Bonea (“Abuzul Asupra Copilului”, 2017) in Revista Calitatea
Vietii , there were a total of 71.040 reported cases of child abuse in 2016. From this, 20.287 cases
happened in urban areas and 50.753 cases were from rural areas. In urban areas, the emotional

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abuse was the one having most reported cases of 9.062, followed by n eglect with 5.865. In rural
areas, exploitation for committing crimes was the biggest (9.997 cases), followed by work
exploitation (9.745 cases). The big difference of child abuse cases in rural and urban areas can be
justified through the living condition s, school abandoning for household work purposes, parental
environment etc.
By following Fig.3 , you can see that there were 14.802 cases of child abuse reported just in
2018. The first type of child abuse reported in 2018 was child neglect (10.852 cases), followed
by emotional abuse (1.826 cases), physical and sexual abuse. Unfortunately, in our country
violence and abuses cases are not well reported, thus we cannot really know the real number of
abuse cases in children. (Statista, 2019)

Fig 3 . : Number of child abuses cases reported in Romania in 2018, by type of abuse
In 2019, Salva ți Copiii implemented an online platform that could be used in order to report
child abuses. In one year, there were 2.713 reported cases of child abuse from which 1.594 cases
were sexual abuse materials and reports. 90% out of all reports were including girls and 73%
were ranged between 6 and 10 years. 12% out of them were aged below 5 and 13% of them were
cases on individuals between 11 and 15 years. (Salvați Copiii, 202 0)
To better understand the development and the relationship between external, internal factors,
and other changes, I applied the Socio -Ecological Model on this subject. The main role of this
model is to help people understand the multi -faced levels with in a society and how individuals
and the environment interact within a social system. In our case, it helps us show the multi -levels
that have an impact on child abuse. In Fig. 4 you can see the structures which the child has direct
contact, the systems in which the child abuse might happen, the larger social systems in which
the child does not directly function and in whi ch the abuse might take place, the social and
cultural context in which the child might be located and the external and internal factors. (ER
Services, n.d.)

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Fig. 4 : The Socio -Ecological Model on Child Abuse
On a general note, child abuse in Romania is still present in many forms, it is stigmatized and it
definitely can be prevented. Children have rights and people are fighting for them and constant ly
developing them but, unfortunately, this information is n ot known by people in Romania because
this subject is not taken into consideration as much as it should be.
The public health field is working on preventing, educating, spreading awareness on problems
of public interest. Child abuse is important in the p ublic health field because it is a problem that
damages the health of the current and future generations and it is not well addressed. It can
interfere in the subject of child abuse by raising awareness of the actual problem with its
prevalence, causes and consequences , to encourage them to report any case of abuse (not only on
children) . What else can be done through the intervention of public health specialists are
programs that are focused on early childhood education, behavioral parent training, public
engagement, early child development etc. Another approach that can be taken into consideration
is on policies: family -friendly work policies, policies on children rights and safety in different
institutions in which children spend their time (e.g. educatio nal institutions), primary care etc.

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Public health can also develop tools for strengthening prevention and response to child abuses
reports.
Policy options
This problem is currently supported by the central government through three important laws:
Law 272/2004, Law 211/2004 , and Law 217/2003. In addition to these laws, there is also
existent a Conve ntion regarding Children Rights which lists the rights of the children.
Law 272/2004 regarding protection and promotion o f children ’s rights is addressed to
Romanian children and their representatives (e.g. family, those who have custody) living in
Romania or any other country but also for children without citizenship, refugees, foreign
children living in Romania and asylum seekers. Its fundamental principle is the superior interest
of the child: wellbeing and health, familiar environment and alternative care, special protection
measures of the seeking child, children protection against abuse, neglect, drug consumption,
child ren exploitation and any other form of violence, protection for children with parents
working i n other countries, etc. (Salva ți copiii, 2018)
Law 211/2004 for protecting the rights and interests of individuals who are victims of a felony
also includes ps ychological counseling and financial compensation from the State. The
psychological counseling is for free for those who are victims of a felony (murder, aggravated
murder, domestic violence ), the felony committed with the intention that had as result in physical
damage of the victim, rape, sexual harassment, sexual act s with minor s, bad treatment of the
child and exploitation and human trafficking. In regards to children, this counseling has to be
provided for a minimum of six months. The financial compens ation will be given by the State
following the same circumstances that are imposed for psychological counseling. (Salva ți copiii,
2018)
Law 217/2003 regarding prevention and fighting against violence in families includes
dispositions regarding the protection of family members against any form of violence (verbal,
psychologic al, physical, sexual, economic , social and spiritual) that can threaten their lives, their
physical or mental integrity or their freedom. T hrough this law, the victim of violence in the
familial environment can release a protection order. This protection order can include the
following measures/obligations: temporary evacuation of the aggressor from the family home,
reintegration of the victim in the family home, limiting the righ ts of the aggressor in the family
home (delimitate the area in which the aggressor has rights) if the circumstances are met, forcing
the aggressor to maintain a certain distance from the victim, and many others. Additionally , the
law includes free faciliti es that authorities have to make available for the victims or the
aggressors such as emergency reception centers, a recovery center for victims of violence in
families, assistance centers for aggressors, violence prevention centers in families, information al
service centers, etc. (Salva ți copiii, 2018)

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The ONU Convention regarding Child Rights has a total of 54 articles, it describes the general
points that the government has to give to people under 18 years and it includes the 42 rights of
the child. The most important rights of the child that are mentioned in the ONU Convention and
also supported by Salv ați Copiii can be seen in Fig. 5 . Other important rights that from ONU
Convention include: respecting parents rights, identity protection, freedom of having an opinion,
parents responsibility, teenagers without a family, adoption, children refugees, social assistance,
children work, torture and detention, war and armed conflicts, justition for children, etc.
(Instituția Avocatul Poporului, 1990), (Salva ți copiii, n.d.), (Salvați Copiii, 2019)

Fig. 5: Children ’s rights, (Salvați copiii, n.d.)
Besides the governmental implication , there is also a policy existent that follows the ONU
Convention ’s standard: the superior i nterest of the child is always i n the first place. Through this
policy, SOS Satele Copiilor focused its attention on the internal mechanisms of prevention and
response to child abuse. The main objectives of this policy were to prevent child abuses cases
and reduce the number of incidence through programs and services, spreading awareness of
children rights and their active role in children protection, to inform people about the policy
regarding child protection and its procedures, to encourage people to have an honest and direct
discussio n about child abuse in national meetings and workshops, to establish right ways for
reporting abuse, to create an active network for protection for children and adults to be safe, etc.
(SOS Satele Copiilor Rom ânia, 2008)
The general approach of instituti ons and the G overnment through laws and policies can be said
that is following some strong standards and rules but it do es not pay much attention to the real

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needs of the country . In reality, Romania is facing with little practice in this field and little
knowledge about these laws and rights when going through an abuse report. The main problems
of our country are that we are lacking an effective system for coordination and monitoring of
child’s rights implementation at all levels, we are encountering issue s when it comes to
collecting data on children abuse, we don’t have an independent instituti on for children’s rights.
The strategies and action plan related to the rights of the child face implementation problems
because of anti -crisis measures. (Salva ți Copiii, 2012)
National coordination in converting children ’s rights into reality is needed, but not intended to
happen very soon. The Government decided on June 30th, 2010, to shut down the National
Authority for the Protection of Family and Child Rights and to transfer its powers to an internal
directorate of the Ministry of Labour (the Directorate General Child Prot ection). It is mainly
because of the funding process and anti -crisis measures. Romania does not achieve another
European general standard, t o have an ombudsman that can practice its powers in many fields.
Most European countries have the Children’s Ombudsman, our country’s Ombudsman has
limited powers that can allow them to intervene in cases where children’s rights are not taken
into consider ation and only in a public institution. The Parliament denied the legislative proposal
from June 2012 for the creation of an Ombudsman for Children within the general Ombudsman
by saying that it would create discrimination of children in comparison with ot her vulnerable
categories of people. (Salva ți Copiii, 2012)
In conclusion, the stakeholders that have the most power s in this subject are not approaching
the problem as much as it should, mainly because of economic struggles and the impossibility of
balancing the general n eeds of the population with efficient ways of solving these big problems.
The laws are trying to cover as much as they can to be used, but people are not aware of their
existence and their power. The main weaknesses of the approach of stakeholders involved in this
subject are the economic struggle and the fear of confronting the Government because they know
that the big power will not support this cause.
Conclusions an d Recommendations
In conclusion, many children in Romania are still facing types of abuse during their childhood.
The n umbers of child abuse cases are still rising. The most common types of abuse among
children in urban areas are emotional abuse and neglect. In rural areas, work exploitation
(including neglect) is the one that children go through the most . Our system does not consider
child abuse to be an important s truggle that the country might face, mostly because they know
that the problem needs big amounts of money to be invested and constant support to be given.
The legislation follows a rigorous structure, but it is not used when it comes to reality because
people do not know about the existence of the laws that might help in reporting child abuse
cases. Other stakeholders such as Salvați Copiii are trying to improve the status quo of child
abuse in Romania through articles, collaborations with international org anizations, but their

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information needs to be known and heard. The public health field can collaborate with some non –
governmental organization s to fight against child abuse in our country. Thus, some
recommendations that are targeting the public health fie ld will be given.
One recommendation that is targeting schools is the realization of a program that is going to be
delivered by teachers and specialists (psychologists, public health specialists). It would be good
for this educational program to include child engagement. It could have two parts: a theoretical
part in which they deliver information regarding what is abuse, what are the types of abuse, what
are its’ consequences. Along with the theoretical part, it could include a practical part in which
some cases might be invented and engage children in preventing the abuse or reporting it,
depending on the type of exercise that is delivered.
Another recommendation would be for the Government. It would be helpful f or them to
strengthen the economic suppo rt for child care institutions, non -governmental organizations that
are focusing on the topic, educational programs regarding abuse prevention and reporting, etc.
They could support from the economic point of view the services victims and aggressors are
supposed to benefit from Law 211/2004 (psychological counseling and financial compensation).
One last recommendation could be delivered to all specialists in violence prevention and the
field of public health. More newsletters and brochures, videotapes mig ht help to spread
awareness all around the country about abuse prevention, the importance of parents’ education
and support in the early life of the child , the current situation in the country. People need to know
the truth that is going on and they have t he right to know what they can do to create a healthier
environment for themselves and their children. Specialists can also collaborate with other
institutions such as supermarkets, hospitals, emergency reception centers, recovery centers for
the victims, etc.

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