New Study Shows Romania having Highest Rates of Violence Against Women in Relationships

• Eurostat statistics states women victimization by their partners are a more common phenomenon in Romania as compared to EU member states
• It also highlights that violence is highest among low-educated i.e., 60.4% and rural women at 50.3% in Romania

The victimization of women by their partners is a more common phenomenon in Romania than other EU member states, as shown through Eurostat statistics analysed by Monitorul Social, a Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania or FES project.

Nearly half of the women in Romania (45.5%) have experienced psychological violence from their intimate partner, against the EU average of 29.9%, which ranks the country 4th, following Hungary, with 52.1% of women having experienced psychological violence at the hands of their intimate partner, Finland (50.2%), and Slovakia (48.9%).

This is a worrisome sign in terms of control, manipulation, insults, and habitual intimidation in relationships," the FES study observes.

In addition, one-fifth of the women in Romania (25.4%) have experienced physical violence, including threats, at the hands of their intimate partner, a rate two times the EU average (10.7%).

When considering all types of severe violence (psychological, physical, and sexual) perpetrated by the intimate partner, almost 1 in 2 women with ever-partnered status in Romania (48.9%) have been affected, as opposed to 31.8% in the EU.

Contextually, intimate partner violence against women in Romania is more prevalent among those who are lowly educated. Approximately 60.4% of lowly educated women (at best middle school graduates) reported they were victims of intimate partner violence, as compared to 47.9% of the medium-educated (high school or postsecondary). Even in the case of those with higher education, 35.8% reported they were victims of intimate partner violence.

At the European level, there is no difference noted in gender-based violence frequency in couples by level of education.

By place of residence, intimate partner violence is noted to be higher in rural areas and small towns. Romania leads the EU by having half of the women residing in rural areas (50.3%) who have ever had a partner reporting experiencing partner violence from that partner, followed by Slovakia (with 48.2% rural women experiencing partner violence), Finland (48.0%), Hungary (47.9%), and Sweden (46.7%). The average for Europe is 29.6%.