Romania set to criminalize forced marriages and cohabitations
Forced marriages and cohabitation will be criminalized in Romania, and sentences will reach up to seven years in prison in cases involving victims under 16 after the Parliament adopted a bill co-initiated by interim environment minister Diana Buzoianu.
Radu Dumitrescu · Journalist
· 2 min read
The adopted bill defines the phenomenon as forcing a person to enter into a marriage or to cohabit in a relationship similar to that between spouses, according to a statement issued by the reformist center-right party Save Romania Union, or USR.
In the case of children under 16, the offense will be punishable by imprisonment from two to seven years and a ban on exercising certain rights. In the case of adults or a minor who has reached the age of 16, the offense will be punishable by imprisonment from one to five years and a ban on exercising certain rights.
The sentences will be increased if the victim is in the care, protection, education, custody, or treatment of the offender, or if the offender has in their possession a weapon, object, device, substance, or animal that may endanger the life, health, or bodily integrity of persons.
The bill also provides for imprisonment for transporting or accompanying an adult or a minor who has reached the age of 16 to another state than the one where they live, as well as forcing the victim to travel through the territory of such a state or preventing them from returning to the state where they lived, to force them to enter into a marriage or cohabit in a similar relationship.
To ensure that citizens become aware of the new measures, the bill also provides for TV and radio promotion for four months from the date the law enters into force. The law must still be promulgated by the president of Romania before it can be applied.
In a Facebook post after the vote, Diana Buzoianu said that the bill was initiated approximately one year ago, together with USR, PNL, PSD and UDMR lawmakers and with the support of civil society organizations. She said that the explicit introduction of these acts into criminal legislation is necessary to protect victims of forced marriages.
“Forced marriages must be sanctioned as a criminal offense. No girl and no boy can be the property of their family and cannot be forced into a marriage they do not want,” she said.
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