Romania is a democratic country and part of the European Union since 2007, which means Romania must follow certain laws and rules implemented by the EU parliament. Romania’s constitution from 1991, later amended in 2003 clearly states that “All citizens enjoy the rights and freedoms granted to them by the Constitution and other laws, and have the duties laid down thereby.” Some of those rights include the right to private life and also the right to physical and mental integrity.
How many of us have heard about the 97%? Probably a lot of people have heard, but not all know what it means. The 97% is a study made by U.N. women in the UK on 1000 women. The study showed, sadly, that 97% of the women between 18 and 24 years old have been sexually harassed. But how do we define sexual harassment and sexual abuse and how does the Romanian legal system punish these acts?
Sexual abuse violates the right to mental integrity as the victim would probably experience mental problems in the long term future. The Romanian Criminal Code is defining any kind of sexual abuse as “offenses against sexual freedom and integrity”. But what is sexual abuse? Sexual abuse can be any kind of sexual act in its nature or sexual intercourse in which any of the persons involved does not agree or can’t express consent. Sexual abuse involves rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual intercourse with a juvenile, sexual corruption of juveniles, and recruitment of juveniles for sexual purposes.
Rape (art. 218) is defined as “sexual intercourse [...] committed by constraint, by rendering the person in question unable to defend themselves or to express their will or by taking advantage of such state”.
Sexual assault (art. 219) refers to any sexual act, except rape in which the act is “committed by constraint, by rendering the person in question unable to defend themselves or to express their will or by taking advantage of such state”
Sexual intercourse with a juvenile (art. 220) means “sexual intercourse [...] committed with a juvenile aged 13 to 15”. Sexual corruption of juveniles (art. 221) is defined as “an act that it’s sexual in nature other than sexual intercourse with a juvenile, against a juvenile who hasn’t turned 13 yet.” Recruitment of juveniles for sexual purposes (art. 222) is “the act of an individual of age to propose that a juvenile who has not yet turned 13 years of age meet for the purposes of the commission of one of the acts set out in art. 220 or art. 221” Sexual harassment (art. 223) is defined as “soliciting sexual favors as part of an employment relationship or a similar relationship if by so doing the victim was intimidated or placed in a humiliating situation”.
Any case is different, so therefore any punishment given in each case is analyzed closely, and then a decision is taken. The punishments are different for each kind of sexual abuse. For example, punishment is set between the law limits, and every aspect is taken into consideration, aspects such as the state of the victim and aggressor, the age of the victim, etc. The Romanian Criminal Code states that the biggest punishment in any sexual abuse case is 18 years in the case of rape which resulted in the victim’s death (art. 218/4). The Romanian Criminal Code also states that the maximum penalty in the case of murder with cruelty (art. 189/h) is from 15 to 25 years.
By this, I can only deduce that killing someone after they’ve been raped is less serious than killing with cruelty. The difference between the maximum punishment is 7 years. So if this is the biggest punishment, what is the lowest punishment? A fine, in case of sexual harassment the lowest punishment is a fine (art. 223/1). The biggest punishment in case of sexual harassment is 1 year of imprisonment if the victim has filed a complaint.
Although these punishments can seem high or low for some people, the important thing is what happens in reality. A lot of accused people define their actions because “the victim asked for it” or that “that pair of shorts was definitely an invitation”. Actually, that does even exist from the legal point of view. So be careful and do not hesitate to take action for yourself or for others in these kinds of situations. It’s always best to know your rights so you or someone you know doesn’t become a part of the 97%.
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