Statement by Mrs. Liliana Pagu and Mrs. Tatiana Isoo-Ciumac (Romania)
To the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women
Thirty-fifth session – New York – May-June 2006

Although there has been certain progress in improving the status of women and elimination of discrimination, actually numerous legal provisions and measures have not been implemented yet. The official bodies which are supposed to watch and actively promote gender matters are weak, unprofessional and acting in a very slow manner.

Moreover, the judiciary system, traditionally based on corruption, is in no way an efficient instrument to support and insure the elimination of the discrimination against women in Romania.

What we intend today is to bring out some really critical issues, to submit them to your attention.

1. Limited access to legal protection against discrimination

There is an anti-discrimination legislation in force, however, progress in this respect has been slow and prospects are not encouraging. Majority of the people have not even heard of the main anti-discrimination body – the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD). This is just a national body, with no local structures, overlapping their activity with other institutions; their work is slow, inefficient and lacking transparency. Just to give you an example of their poor efficiency: between 2002 and 2005, they reported only 54 cases of claims of discrimination against women, which means more or less 10-15 cases per year – unrealistic!

1. Poverty and lack of economical opportunities

Unemployment, poverty and extreme poverty is one ugly face of today’s life in Romania. According to a World Bank survey, 12.4% of women are at a permanent risk of poverty, compared to 8.9% for men, with a trend of a continuous increase.

Among the women who are facing the highest risk of extreme poverty are the single mothers, old women, Rroma women and the women from rural area. Economical opportunities as a source of income are extremely limited, leading to a life of humiliation and despair, with completely insufficient supportive measures from the state. We have to emphasize herewith the total lack of support for single mothers and young mothers who are still in the educational process, such as school-girls or students.

As economic insecurity is one serious form of violence against the dignity and integrity of the person, often leading to other forms violence, we believe this is one major issue which should be taken into consideration with maximum attention and concern.

1. Obstacles for women’s access on the labor market

Although the discrimination on basis of gender in the labor market is banned and sanctioned under current legislative provisions, the women in Romania are still facing different forms of discrimination in a “tacit” way.

• Social inequality and high rate of unemployment are among the main factors that strongly affect the situation of the women.
• Women have no access to information about their rights on the labor market and the legislative bodies do not function pro perly in this domain.
• They face actual discriminatory practices both in the private and public sector, with restrictions to be employed depending on age, physical aspect, relations, with lower wages and less chance to be promoted.
• A special issue of concern is the discrimination of Rroma (women and men) who are still expressly rejected by employment ads.

1. Limited access on the political arena and in the decision making process

Women are still under-represented in positions of political decision making power, both at the national and local level. At the national level, only 10% of the members of the Parliament are women. The representation of the women in the political life increased, but very slowly, in spite of their high capabilities and potential. A few political parties included the gender equality principle in their status, but they lack, very often, the appropriate implementation strategies.

Categorically the political status of women in Romania and their participation on decision-making level is strongly affected by the lack of opportunities and effective advocacy in their favor.

1. Violence against women

In Romania, every year, thousands of women and children leave their homes because they are victims of abuse. A national research shows that such a high number as 800,000 women are reported as victims of domestic violence. Most probably the real number is far bigger since women are not aware of their rights and most often they are just silently bearing the situation without reporting.

Romania has a law directly related the domestic violence (Law no.217/2003), however there are no significant improvements. On the contrary, governmental authorities have ceased support for some of the shelters for the victims of domestic violence in Bucharest and the main cities of the country. Existing centers are not only insufficient but they have no adequate economical and social programs for the victims – most important, no employment opportunities are provided.

Shockingly, violence is an increasingly present phenomenon in the schools and other educational institutions. A recent case reported by media showed appealing images of a school teacher (woman) being beaten by one of her students (a high-school boy). This is not an isolated case but rather an illustration of a widely spread phenomenon. Regretfully, the private televisions find a great subject in distributing images of violence, thus becoming a sure source of multiplying such awful actions.

Thank you!

This page was last updated on July 16, 2006

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