The number of phone calls concerning domestic violence made to the 112 Service increased significantly during the past three months. An average of 37 cases was recorded in May, June and July and data analyses show an increase of about 25% compared with the same period last year, IPN reports.

According to the 112 Service, most often the calls refer to violence against the wife, partner, parent or child on the part of the husband, partner, son or parent. As a result of use of violence, the victim can suffer bodily injuries with different gravity levels that can require medical care.

Often, the victim of physical abuse refuses hospitalization or the intervention of the ambulance or police team. The Service calls on the victims of violence to report the abuse to 112 so that the abuser is punished.

In an article published earlier by IPN, Arina Țurcan, lawyer for the Women’s Law Center, said that despite the rising number of reports concerning domestic violence, the number of criminal cases has declined. Another problem is the fact that beyond physical violence, other forms of domestic abuse are neglected in our country.

Also, Arina Țurcan noted that the victims of abuse most of the times are not represented by a lawyer in court: only 7% of the victims had access to qualified legal aid. At the same time, the infrastructure of courts of law does not offer the injured parties sufficient protection against intimidation on the part of other participants in the trial, while the period for examining cases concerning domestic violence is of over a year. The imposed punishments, such as community services and probation, do not sufficiently discourage the domestic abusers.