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Description
Romania has taken important steps in improving legislation to prevent and sanction violence against women, but there are significant gaps in implementation and the authorities'' response is deficient. We are confronted with a reluctance of victims in reporting cases of domestic violence, inappropriate budgeting of few existing services, and a deficient implementation of the law, all in a society in which violence against women is normalized. In the past 8 years, 426 women were killed by a member of their family.
The project aims to strengthen the awareness, watchdog, monitoring, and advocacy activities of the VIF Network, at the central and local levels, through a multidimensional approach; this includes mapping the current situation of the existing services for cases of gender violence, coordinated by Transcena, increasing the level of involvement of the competent local public authorities by implementing advocacy actions at the local and national level, coordinated by FILIA and FRONT, consolidating the actions of sanctioning the cases that did not find justice in court, coordinated by ANAIS, alongside grassroots work in vulnerable communities, coordinated by E-Romnja and a campaign of awareness for young people.
The issue is addressed in all its complexity, through a series of actions capable of creating synergies in the fight to reduce this phenomenon. The main beneficiaries are survivors of domestic violence, benefiting from legal support and broader access to information, local and central authorities by exchanging good practices with specialists from civil society, the large public, informed about the phenomenon, but especially the young people involved. This approach will result in 12 visits with local authorities, 2 research reports, several events with women, men and young people in vulnerable communities, 2 public marches, 8 advocacy round tables and 6 advocacy plans, 3 lawsuits, 5 petitions, and more than 100 social media posts about the phenomenon.
Summary of project results
The Vif informal network - The Network for Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women – established informal of 20 member organizations, is the continuation of the National Coalition of NGOs Involved in programs regarding Violence Against Women, from 2002 - 2007. The Coalition contributed, after the 2000s, to shape the legislative context to protect the victims of violence against women.
In the last 10 years, the network has worked through consultations between organizations, and its importance is given by the fact that it brings together the majority of NGOs that are active in Romania in the field of gender violence, service provider organizations that work directly with women victims of violence and organizations feminists, which deals with advocacy and public awareness. Among the most important events organized by the Vif Network include the "Together for Women''s Safety" March, organized in Bucharest every year in October, which brings together members and supporters to the network.
The project "Together for the Safety of Women!" - an intervention project multidimensional against gender violence - involved a multidimensional approach to gender-based violence, focusing on information and awareness, local and national advocacy, research, and activism. The network proposed (1) to continue the development of advocacy and growth activities awareness developed by the VIF Network, through a multidimensional approach capable of producing systemic changes in the application of legislation on gender violence through local advocacy actions (A6) and national (A7), during 24 months; (2) to strengthen the watchdog role of the Network in the matter gender violence through services and budget monitoring actions in the field of GBV (A4) and through activation of legal levers to combat gender-based violence (A5); (3) to expand the activities of advocacy at the local level by increasing the degree of awareness, involvement and capacity in prevention and combating violence against women among 45 women and 15 men from vulnerable groups through awareness and capacity-building actions, during 24 months, in six counties; and (4) to grow the ability of the Network to carry out advocacy activities to implement the legislation regarding preventing and combating violence against women, to raise awareness of the problem of violence in public space and to increase its financial sustainability.
Within activity 3 - Training and Local Actions – were organized: consultation meetings and round tables with the local public authorities from Mizil and Valea Seaca (Giurgiu county) and with Roma girls and women from these communities; community and follow-up meetings, as well as awareness-raising workshops for the men of Valea Seaca on the topic of violence against women; creative workshops with students and 3 public events (forum and debates), in which participated students and Roma women from each community; and 1 advocacy training organized for consolidation local initiative groups, with the participation of 12 Roma women from Mizil, Giurgiu and Valea Seaca.
Activity 4 - Monitoring of services and their budget - were realized and launched in 2022: the Monitoring report of existing services for victims of domestic violence and aggressors, the Budget Monitoring Report for services for victims and aggressors (in 2022); in 2023 - the Monitoring report of the existing services for victims of domestic violence and aggressors and a Monitoring Report on the budget of services for victims and aggressors.
Within activity 5 - Activating legal levers to combat gender-based violence - petitions and notifications were made to the CNCD (National Council for Combating Discrimination), preliminary administrative complaints to the County Council Galati and Teleorman County Council, 3 lawsuits against 3 local authorities regarding the lack of budget and services for victims of domestic violence (provided by Law 217/2003), administrative complaints against several local authorities regarding the lack of services intended for victims of domestic violence, a referral to the Judicial Inspection.
Within activity 6 - Advocacy at the local level regarding the prioritization of the allocation of funds for intended programs and services issues of gender violence - round tables were held with local authorities and NGOs in the field of gender violence for the identification of good practices in 6 counties - Ilfov, Prahova, Neamt, Bistrita Nasaud, Constanta and Giurgiu, targeted by the project. Were developed local advocacy groups, an advocacy guide created, as well as local meetings with students.
At the local level, the partners organized meetings with authorities, workshops with women and men, and three theater performances with students in Mizil, Valea Seaca, and Giurgiu. They established advocacy groups in six counties, where we held meetings with local organizations and experts to create appropriate services for victims and perpetrators. They published two reports on victim services and their funding, filed administrative complaints against authorities, legal actions, and petitions to the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) on issues related to sexism and gender-based discrimination. Also submitted petitions, administrative complaints, and a report to the Judicial Inspection addressed to the panel of judges. In 2021 and 2022 they organized two protest actions demanding adequate services for survivors of domestic violence. The 2022 march gathered over 6,000 participants nationwide. For two years, they shared information about violence, statistical data, and resources for victims on social media, and published over 100 posts that reached nearly 700,000 people. Several young individuals and influencers shared anti-violence messages on their accounts. At the end of 2022, they organized the " Dirty Laundry in Public " exhibition in Titan Park- Bucharest, where 30 women displayed their experiences of domestic violence printed on hanging laundry. To strengthen the capacity of the VIF Network, the partners developed a fundraising strategy. Information about the project was posted on the project''s website, and during the final conference, they launched the latest reports on victim services and their funding. The four published reports describe the severe lack of appropriate services for survivors.