A Paradigm Shift within the Romanian Victim Support System
Mihaela Tomiță, Roxana Ungureanu, Adina Schwartz
Abstract. As a response to the Victims’ Directive and to the first European Strategy on victim protection, issued by the European Commission, the Romanian legislator has enabled the development of a first ever victim support system in Romania. The article reflects the research findings on the newly created Romanian victim support and protection system. It provides an overview of the national legislative framework in victim’s protection, by highlighting the recent legislative changes and their effects at grass root level. Also, it describes the newly developed model to identify, refer and protect victims of all crimes. Eventually, the authors reveal the findings of a qualitative research involving specialist in victim support and victims of different violent crimes on how the recently developed system is addressing their individual needs. Based on the research findings, the authors propose a series of recommendations to address the gaps identified through the qualitative research.
Keywords: victims, support, protection, Romania, European legislation