Sexual Violence in Romania: New Laws and New Challenges

• In Event: Sexual Assault Case Processing: Changes and Challenges

Abstract

Over the past years, as in other countries in Europe, Romania faced an increased interest on criminal offences related to sexual violence. General discussions on lack of consent (which is not provided as a condition for rape) and more specific ones regarding the age of sexual consent shaped the view of the public opinion and some legal scholars on this matter. On one side, the NGOs performed several actions in this area; on the other, some public institutions made an evaluation of the current case law. This led to subsequent modifications of the Criminal Code, out of which the most important one occurred in 2024. The presentation will go through these changes, showing how the case law responded to them, in order to see whether the protection of the victims is actually higher. Our preliminary conclusion is that the legislature complicated the many regulations in this area, without seeing the real problems the judicial system and the society are facing with.

Author

• Andra Trandafir, University of Bucharest