Country Profile Romania

General Country Information

Summary

There are two national women’s helplines Romania which are both free of charge and available 24/7, and one of which also offers multilingual support. There are 144 women-only shelters with a total of 1,260 beds. Romania also has 15 women’s centres providing a range of services and 10 support services for survivors of sexualised violence located in emergency units of hospitals providing specialist forensic and medical care. Specific provisions on primary prevention are included in official documents such as National Action Plans, but it is not known if there is a specific budget allocated to such activities. The state does collect data on women’s specialist services and most public institutions publish general information and occasionally share statistics or reports on their websites. For more detailed information, interested parties can request specific data in accordance with legislation that guarantees free access to information of public interest. Additionally, public and private institutions are periodically asked to provide statistical data about beneficiaries of assistance, which is collected and processed by the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (ANES).

Women’s Specialist Services

There are two national women’s helpline in Romania, one which is run by the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (ANES), one run by the organisation Community Mediation and Security Center (Centrul de Mediere si Securitate Comunitara – CMSC). The first helpline is called the National Helpline for Victims of Domestic Violence (HELPLINE național cu număr unic destinat victimelor violenței domestice, tel.: +40 800500333) and is free of charge, available 24/7 and offers multilingual support in Romanian, English, Italian and Hungarian. Support in Ukrainian and Romani languages can also be provided on a voluntary basis, if needed. The helpline is funded by the state provides support to survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sex discrimination. In 2024, the helpline received in total 9,285 calls, of which 6,534 were answered. Of these calls, 2,835 were related to domestic violence, 31 to human trafficking, 22 to sexualised violence, 15 to sexual harassment and workplace bullying, and nine calls were related to questions concerning equal opportunities/gender. The second helpline is the Call Center Hellena – Information and counselling center for victims of domestic violence (Centrul de informare şi consiliere pentru victimele violenţei domestice de tip linie telefonică de urgenţă – Helena Helpline, tel.: +40 800070017) which is also free of charge and available 24/7. This helpline was established in 2022 and is funded by the state, private funds/donations, as well as international funding, and offers support to women who are in situations of risk and concerned about their safety. The most common forms of violence reported to the helpline in 2024 were domestic, physical, and psychological violence. Romania does meet the Istanbul Convention minimum standards for the provision of a national women’s helpline.

There are no other helplines supporting survivors of violence against women in Romania.

According to ANES, there are 144 women-only shelters in Romania with 1,260 available beds. These include 88 licensed shelters for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexualised violence with 875 bed spaces, as well as 56 maternity centres with 385 bed spaces that can also accommodate survivors of violence together with children under 2–3 years old or pregnant women in the last trimester of pregnancy. Most shelter beds are concentrated in Bucharest and other big cities in Romania and are therefore not distributed equally. Relocation of survivors (both for safety and access to specialised services) is not a widespread practice due to restrictions on expenses from local budgets. The types of in-house services most often provided by women-only shelters are counselling/psychological support, casework, and referrals/collaboration with other services, although counselling and psychological support are the most predominant service offered.
Some of the women-only shelters have 24/7 access and women are not expected to pay for their accommodation in the shelters. In Romania, there are several types of women-only shelters, classified according to the services offered and the length of stay. The main types are emergency reception centres, temporary centres, and sheltered housing. Emergency reception centres provide immediate and temporary shelter to survivors (accessible 24/7 access, for two to six months). They usually also provide basic services such as food, primary health care and psychological counselling. Recovery centres provide a more stable environment, with more complex services such as social assistance, legal counselling and rehabilitation programs. The goal is to help survivors regain their autonomy and build a future without violence. The maximum length of stay is one year or more. Sheltered housing provide temporary, assisted housing facilities where survivors can live for a longer period (one year or more), with access to support and counselling services, while they look for permanent housing options.

Most women-only shelters can accommodate women with older sons (14 years and above), and some women-only shelters can be accessed by and are accessible to women with uncertain residence permits/undocumented women, refugee women, women with cognitive disabilities, older women (65 years and above), and women with children with disabilities. According to national authorities, all women-only shelters are accessible to all survivors without discrimination, however, in reality this is not always the case.

Funding for women-only shelters comes from the state, donations, international funding and religious institutions. In terms of the entities running women-only shelters, the majority of domestic violence shelters and maternity centres are run by the state, and at least seven shelters are run by faith-based organisations. Some women-only shelters are also run by NGOs and women’s NGOs with a gender-specific and feminist approach. Women-only shelters are located in most regions although state-run shelters located in rural areas do not strictly belong to the local community and usually serve the entire county. There is at least one women-only shelter per county. Shelters run by NGOs are more flexible and can accommodate survivors from all over the country. The main reasons for declining referrals to women-only shelters were no space or capacity to support the survivor and the survivor being ineligible for support. The most common forms of violence reported to women-only shelters in 2024 were domestic, physical and psychological violence. According to data provided by ANES, in 2024 a total of 12,990 individuals accessed social services related to preventing and combating domestic violence, which includes shelter accommodation. However, data collection efforts are limited, and this number does not reflect the reality on the ground.

There are other shelters that provide support for survivors of violence in Romania, and which are accessible to women. This includes maternal centres which are not directly licensed as providers of social services for survivors of domestic violence but can accommodate women survivors if needed. The exact number of such centres as well as available beds is unknown. There are also shelters for survivors of different forms of trafficking.

There are 15 women’s centres in Romania which provide a range of services including counselling/psychological support, legal advice, employment, referrals/collaboration with other services, and representation at court/police/social services. Other support services provided by women’s centres include counselling for survivors’ own safety and security and information on how to access services in order to obtain a forensic medial certificate and medical care. Women’s centres also provide specialist support for survivors of sexualised violence including needs assessment, specialist psychological care, and legal advice. In recent years, a lot of women’s centres have closed, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period and due to losing their service license/accreditation. The number of available women’s centres changes frequently and is updated monthly on the official website of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (ANES).

Some women’s centres can be accessed by and are accessible to women with uncertain residence permits/undocumented women, refugee women, women with physical and/or cognitive disabilities, and older women (65 years and above). There are no specialised shelters supporting particular groups of survivors nor women survivors or those at risk of specific forms of violence in Romania. In general, existing centres seek to identify solutions and offer support to all survivors without discrimination, often in collaboration with other institutions.

Six women’s centres are run by women’s NGOs, six are run by the state, four by other NGOs, and one by a religious institution. It is important to note that some women’s centres are run by multiple entities (e.g., an NGO that is also a religious institution). Women’s centres are located just in a few major cities and are funded by the state from national/local authorities, donations as well as international funding.

There are 10 support services for survivors of sexualised violence in Romania which operate as Intervention Centres for Victims of Sexual Violence and were established in 2021. These are integrated services located in emergency units of hospitals around the country and aim to provide specialist forensic and medical care, needs assessment, specialist psychological care and legal advice to all survivors of sexualised violence. Centres offer primary counselling regardless of the intervention offered, and survivors can receive free medical services and biological sample collection. When a survivor comes to the centre, the centre coordinator initiates the integrated intervention procedure by requesting the support of the other professionals involved, including the police and social assistance services. A police officer then registers the survivors’ complaint and can also issue a temporary protection order. Through the intervention of the social worker, the survivor can benefit from support services offered by the General Directorate of Social Assistance free of charge, namely specialised psychological counselling, legal counselling, accommodation in sheltered housing or inclusion in support programs. These sexualised violence services are funded by the state as well as international funding from the Norwegian grants.

Unfortunately, survivors often do not receive adequate multidisciplinary support from the Intervention Centres for Victims of Sexual Violence.³ Survivors have reported to NGOs that they encountered many shortcomings when seeking help. According to the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men’s Activity Report for 2024, 70 people received support from the Intervention Centres for Victims of Sexual Violence since they opened in 2021. There are no other services for survivors of sexualised violence in Romania.

Specific provisions on primary prevention are included in official documents in Romania such as the National Strategy for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities and Treatment between Women and Men and for Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence 2022–2027,⁴ and in the National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Sexual Violence “SINERGIE” 2021–2030. SINERGIE refers to different strategic objectives which include the three forms of prevention: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The Government Decision No. 592/2021 also approved an Action Plan for the implementation of the SINERGIE for 2021-2030.⁵ A definition of primary prevention is also included in the Minimum Quality Standards for Social Services Organised as Population Information and Awareness Centres in the Field of Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence (Annex 5), however a clear definition in legislation does not exist. Due to the decentralisation of local public services in Romania, data on budget allocations for certain categories of expenditure are difficult to track. Many of the provisions of the strategies are the responsibility of local authorities, so it is not known if a specific budget is allocated to primary prevention activities. Available activities include feminist self-defence trainings, empowerment activities for girls and women, and awareness-raising campaigns or programmes. Many NGOs working in the field of violence against women do implement primary prevention activities, depending on their budget. They run and organise educational and informational activities for women and girls, as well as the general public (through awareness raising campaigns online and offline).

1. This number only relates to one of the helplines, the National Helpline for Victims of Domestic Violence. ↩︎
2. Some women’s centres are run by multiple entities (e.g., an NGO that is also a religious institution). ↩︎
3. As revealed by a recent press investigation available (in Romanian) at: https://pressone.ro/reportaj-prin-ce-trece-o-potentiala-victima-a-unui-viol-la-spital
   ul-universitar-unde-ar-trebui-sa-functioneze-un-centru-special-pentru-femei. ↩︎
4. Government of Romania, National Strategy for Promoting Equality of Opportunities and Treatment between Women and Men and for Preventing and Combat
   ing Domestic Violence 2022–2027, https://anes.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Monitorul-Oficial-Partea-I-nr.-1239Bis.pdf. ↩︎
5. Government of Romania, National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Sexual Violence “SYNERGY” 2021–2030, https://pcabucuresti.mpublic.ro/violenta_
   sexuala.htm. ↩︎