At health level

Lethal consequences (homicide, suicide, maternal mortality, infant and AIDS mortality) or non-lethal consequences occur at this level, namely:

·       Acute physical – injury, shock, disease, infection;

·   Chronic physical – disabilities, somatic problems, chronic infections, chronic pain, gastrointestinal problems, appetite and feeding disorders, sleep, drug and/or alcohol abuse);

·       Reproductive – miscarriages, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, menstrual disorders, pregnancy complications, gynecological conditions, sexual function disorders.

At the psycho-social level

Many societies blame victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. Marginalization and social exclusion cause subsequent disorders, including shame, self-hatred, self-loathing and depression. As a result of stigma, most victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence do not report these incidents. There are two categories of consequences in this regard, both of which are difficult to detect and which are remedied over time and with considerable effort:

·   Emotional and psychological consequences – post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, fear, anger, shame, insecurity, self-hatred, mental illness, suicidal thoughts and behavior.

·     Social consequences – victim/survivor blaming, loss of role/function in society, social stigma, social rejection and isolation, feminization of poverty, realization of gender inequalities.

Legal framework/Justice

If national legislation does not provide protection against sexual or gender-based violence, or if practices in legal and judicial bodies are discriminatory, this type of violence may be perpetuated by the lack of danger of criminal punishment. Common attitudes of blaming victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are often reflected at court level.

Many reports/complaints of such incidents are dismissed or perpetrators receive light sentences. In some countries, the punishment for perpetrators of violence and gender-based violence is another violation of the rights and freedoms of the victim/survivor, namely forced marriage to the perpetrator. Psychologically, the victim is again victimized by the fact that the perpetrator is recognized as innocent.

Safety/Security

The victim/survivor feels unsafe, threatened, fearful, unprotected from the risk of being assaulted again. Another aspect of the security context is that, in working with trafficking incidents, police and security forces may enter these networks. Also, if the police or security forces are not sensitive to the victim’s suffering and need for care, dignity and respect, the trauma can deepen because of the delay in providing assistance.

Victim/Survivor Assistance

Sexual and gender-based violence is an issue that affects individuals, communities and institutions. Given its complexity, this type of violence is most effectively addressed when multiple sectors, organizations and disciplines work together to identify and design strategies that can counter this violation of fundamental human rights. All actors involved in the development of these strategies need to jointly agree on a set of guiding principles and realize that sexual and gender-based violence is a serious violation of fundamental human rights.

At the level of refugee assistance, there are several principles that shape the design and design of refugee assistance:

·       Involvement of the refugee community, particularly in decision-making;

·     Ensuring a balanced participation of men and women, girls and boys in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmers targeted at them;

·       Ensuring multispectral coordination of the actions of all actors involved;

·       Ensuring written records, data recording, planning of activities

At the individual level, the following set of principles should be taken into account:

·       Ensure the safety of victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and their families;

·       Respecting the confidentiality of affected persons and their families

·       If the victim of sexual and gender-based violence is a child, the principle of the best interests of the child must prevail;

·       Non-discrimination.

At multi-sectoral level

The foundation of this approach is international protection which aims to ensure that refugees are adequately protected and enjoy the exercise of their rights.  Community involvement is essential in the design, planning and implementation of programs (involving community members in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence). There are then principles and operational rules on which all actors involved must agree, thus ensuring a coordination function. It should not be forgotten that there may be many actors whose contribution can be useful and whose roles need to be defined. Preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence involves actions carried out by different relevant actors, most of them representing one or more of the following sectors: medical, psycho-social, security and legal.

Only by identifying the factors that contribute to and influence the type and extent of sexual and gender-based violence can appropriate and effective prevention strategies be developed. Prevention activities target potential perpetrators, potential survivors and those who can help them. Activities should therefore target refugee populations, humanitarian aid workers, host country nationals and government authorities. As with all sexual and gender-based violence programs, prevention strategies are most effective when all sectors, including refugees, are involved in their design, implementation and evaluation.

Effective prevention strategies will include actions that focus on five key objectives: transforming socio-cultural norms, with a focus on empowering women and girls; rebuilding family and community structures and support systems; designing effective services and facilities; working with formal and traditional legal systems to ensure their practices are in line with international human rights standards; and monitoring and documenting incidents of sexual and gender-based violence.

Preventing sexual and gender-based violence involves identifying and eliminating those factors that make certain members of the refugee community vulnerable to this type of violence and developing a range of strategies to improve protection for all refugees. These strategies will be most effective when they are designed, implemented and monitored by all sectors involved in protecting and assisting refugees in refugee communities and by refugees themselves.

A refugee is a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” (Article 1A, 1951 Refugee Convention).

There is an inextricable link between racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the forced displacement and ill-treatment of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons. Racism is both a cause and a result of forced displacement and an obstacle to its resolution.

Forced displacement has become a major global phenomenon. An estimated 50 million people worldwide have been uprooted from their homes.

A large number of these people are victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Racism affects forcibly displaced people at every stage of the displacement cycle:

Racism in countries of origin: the cause of forced displacement

The 1951 Refugee Convention clearly recognizes the central role that racism and ethnic discrimination play in causing refugee movements. Article 1A of the 1951 Refugee Convention declares a refugee to be “a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of ‘race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion’, is outside his country and is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of his country”.

A large number of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons have been forcibly displaced because of their race, ethnicity or nationality. “Ethnic cleansing” is becoming an alarmingly common phenomenon in internal conflicts, leading to both mass exodus of refugees to neighboring countries and mass internal displacement. Nationality disputes have also played a role in several contemporary refugee crises, where certain ethnic groups have been arbitrarily stripped of their citizenship before being forcibly expelled.

Racism in host countries: treatment of refugees and asylum seekers

Not only are refugees and asylum seekers fleeing situations of racial and ethnic discrimination and violence, but they are increasingly facing such hostility in countries of refuge. In the last decade, especially since the end of the Cold War era, when refugees have lost their strategic geo-political significance, there has been a global trend of xenophobia and increasing hostility towards refugees and asylum seekers. This trend is most visible in the industrialized and affluent countries of the West, where over the past decade there has been an avalanche of restrictive policies targeting today’s asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. But even traditionally generous, developing host countries, often overburdened by their own social and economic problems, have become increasingly reluctant to host large refugee populations.

Intolerance and discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers in host countries manifests itself in various forms, including:

Restrictive entry policies that obstruct the right of asylum seekers and refugees to freely leave their own country and undermine the fundamental right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution. Policies often target specific groups of asylum seekers on the basis of their ethnicity, race or nationality in order to stem asylum flows from particular countries. These include measures such as:

• Visa controls, carrier sanctions and the deployment of immigration officials as “airline liaison officers” in common refugee-producing countries to assist airline staff with pre-departure checks;
• The application of so-called “safe third country” and “safe country of origin” policies, which risk either directly or indirectly returning refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened, in violation of the fundamental principle of non-refoulment, and which deny asylum seekers access to a full and fair assessment of their asylum claims, with full rights of appeal;
• Proposals to respond to refugee crises in regions of origin through mechanisms such as “safe havens” and “protection within the country”, in addition to the selective admission of fixed quotas of refugees from certain regions;

Restrictions on the legal entry of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants have forced many to turn to the services of corrupt and dangerous human trafficking syndicates who are able to circumvent routine migration controls – often with serious repercussions for those involved.

Intolerance and Discrimination can take the form of racist and xenophobic portrayals of asylum seekers; refugees and migrants, in the media as criminals thus fueling feelings of hatred and contempt being against refugees and migrants on their territory.

Another form is the use of xenophobic and racist rhetoric by politicians and public officials, and the manipulation of xenophobic hate feelings and fears, often for political gain.

Refugees/asylum seekers and migrants are often the victims of racist attacks, with law enforcement agencies often failing to take adequate action to bring perpetrators to justice.

Preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence is directly linked to the protection of human rights. Every individual, regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political orientation, national or social origin, property, social status, etc. is entitled to respect, protection, exercise of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Acts of sexual and gender-based violence restrict a range of fundamental human rights.

• The right to physical and mental health;
• The right to freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment;
• The right to freedom of movement, opinion, expression and association;
• The right to enter into a marriage on the basis of free and full consent and to enjoy equal rights with one’s partner, both during marriage and at its dissolution;
• The right to education, social security and personal development;
•   The right to cultural, political and public participation, equal access to services, employment and equal remuneration for work.

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – United Nations General Assembly, 1981;
• United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women – United Nations General Assembly, 1993;
• Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995;
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998;
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, 2000;

Causes of sexual and gender-based violence

Understanding the causality of the occurrence of sexual and gender-based violence is a source for developing action plans to prevent it. The causes of sexual and gender-based violence are to be found in society’s attitudes and practices of gender discrimination, which place women in a subordinate position to men. The lack of social and economic valuing of women and their work and the acceptance of gender-specific roles perpetuates and reinforces the presumption that men have decision-making power and control over women. Through acts of sexual and gender-based violence, committed at individual or group level, persecutors tend to maintain their privilege, power and control over others. Gender identity and gender roles are determined by sex, age, socio-economic status, ethnicity, nationality and religion. Relationships between women and men, among women as well as men, are marked by different levels of authority and power that maintain privilege and subordination among members of a society. Disagreement or lack of responsiveness to human rights, gender equality, democracy and non-violent means of conflict resolution contribute to the perpetuation of these inequalities.

A person can become a victim or even an aggressor in the context of the existence/appearance the following types of risks:

• Risks at individual level – lack of security, addiction, physical and mental disabilities, lack of alternatives in adapting to socio-economic changes of status, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, psychological trauma and stress of conflict, refuge, internal displacement, ignorance, lack of knowledge of basic individual rights as stipulated by national and international bodies;
• Risks to social and cultural norms – discriminatory cultural and traditional beliefs and practices, religious beliefs;
• Legal framework and practices in the host country and/or country of origin – lack of protection of women’s and children’s rights against sexual and gender-based violence, lack of trust in state authorities, application of traditional laws and practices favoring discrimination, lack of interest in the subject, discriminatory practices in the administration of justice, non-reporting of incidents of sexual and gender-based violence and lack of trust in the administration of justice, lack of interest in prosecuting all reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence, low number of convictions obtained in proportion to the number of reports of sexual and gender-based violence, inaccessibility of police and courts due to the location of refugee camps, absence of women in the judiciary, lack of administrative resources and equipment of local courts and security forces, laws or practices in the administration of justice that support gender bias;
• War and armed conflict – destruction of social structures, exercise of political power and control over communities, ethical differences, socio-economic discrimination;
• Refugee situations, return and internal displacement – collapse of family and social support structures, high crime locations, overcrowded camps, shelters and communal households, service mix, facilities and access to them, male-dominated leaders in communities, lack of food, fuel, income and the possibility of payment for work done, lack of protection from police forces, lack of NGO representatives in refugee camps, lack of identity documents and non-registration of individuals, hostile local populations – refugees seen as materially privileged.

Victims/survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are at high risk of severe health and psycho-social disorders. The potential for long-term psycho-emotional trauma should not be underestimated.

Understanding the potential consequences of sexual and gender-based violence will help stakeholders to develop appropriate strategies for responding to these effects and to prevent conditions from worsening or worsening

Violence against women includes all acts of gender-based violence that cause or are likely to cause physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering – namely sexual violence, rape, genital mutilation, forced marriage, forced abortion, forced sterilization, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, stalking for the purpose of harassment, sexual harassment, femicide, hate speech, sex crimes in online form (cyber violence), non-consensual sharing or manipulation of intimate material, cyber stalking and internet harassment.

Domestic violence is a form of violence against women that occurs within the family. Women are disproportionately represented as victims of all forms of violence because of underlying patterns of coercion, power and/or control.                                 Last but not least, cyber violence is an extension of the violence that victims face in offline environments. Despite the widespread spread of cyber violence, the regulatory process is so far highly fragmented, with significant legal gaps identified at both EU and Member State level.

Significant for the EU agenda to combat violence against women is the new Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (known as the Istanbul Convention), which has comprehensively addressed violence against women and domestic violence.                                                                                                                                                    In 2016, the proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (COM(2016)111) was presented. A year later, the Convention was signed, on behalf of the EU, by the European Commission and the Council of the EU. However, the accession process has not been finalized so far as the EU Council has not adopted the final decision.                                                                                   In the meantime, the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted on 18 December 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly, entered into force as an international treaty on 3 September 1981 after ratification by 20 countries. By the Convention’s tenth anniversary in 1989, almost one hundred nations had agreed to abide by its provisions. States Parties to the Convention condemned discrimination against women in all its forms and agreed to pursue, by all appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating all forms of discrimination against women. Romania ratified the Convention on 7 January 1982.                                                          

The June 2019 International Labor Organization Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work (C190) aims to stop violence and harassment through the adoption of innovative international instruments, making it the first international standard to end violence and harassment in the world of work. The Convention fills existing gaps in legislation and protects all workers, regardless of their contractual status – trainees, apprentices, licensed workers, volunteers or job seekers.

At EU level there are several legal instruments relevant to victims of violence against women and domestic violence. These establish either general rules applicable to this category of victims or specific rules on certain forms of such violence.

Recent developments at EU level to combat this phenomenon include:

·       2019 – The political guidelines for the European Commission 2019-2024, in particular those referring to “A Union of Equality”, highlight the need to prevent and combat violence against women, protect victims and punish perpetrators;

·       2020 – Gender Equality Strategy 2020-20255 (COM(2020)152) includes measures to prevent such violence, to protect victims, to prosecute perpetrators and to implement comprehensive and coordinated policies in this area.

·       2020 – EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights 2020-2025 (COM(2020)258) calls on the European Commission, EU Member States, civil society, all stakeholders, to get involved and pay particular attention to the specific needs of victims of gender-based violence.

·       2020 – Proposal for a Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union (COM(2020)682) aims to ensure that workers in the EU are protected by adequate minimum wages, enabling them to make a decent living wherever they work, by establishing a framework to improve the adequacy of minimum wages and to increase workers’ access to minimum wage protection.

·       2020 – Equality Strategy for LGBTIQ people 2020-2025 (COM(2020)698) addresses the inequalities and challenges affecting LGBTIQ people with a view to creating an Equality Union. It pays particular attention to the diverse needs of LGBTIQ people and the most vulnerable groups, including people facing intersectional discrimination and transgender, non-binary and intersex people, who are among the least accepted groups in society and who generally face higher levels of discrimination and violence than other groups within LGBTIQ communities. The strategy argues that discrimination is often multidimensional and that only a cross-sectional approach can lead to sustainable and respected changes in society.

·       2020 – Digital Services Act (COM(2020)825) which helps protect online users.

·       2021 – Gender Equality Action Plan (GAP) III (JOIN(2020)17) is an ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in the EU’s external action; combating gender-based violence becomes one of the priorities for EU external action.

·       2021 – Proposal for a Directive on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value for men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms (COM(2021)93) seeks to remedy the respect of the fundamental right to equal pay and the enforcement of this right across the EU by setting pay transparency standards that enable workers to claim their right to equal pay.

·       2021 – Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030 (COM(2021)101) aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities over the next decade, both at EU and national level, with a strong commitment from Member States and regional and local authorities to deliver the actions proposed by the European Commission.

·       2021 – The Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights (COM(2021)102) reiterates the commitment to combat gender-based violence, reducing it in employment by at least half compared to 2019.

·       2021 – EU comprehensive strategy on the rights of the child (COM(2021)142) reaffirms the rights and their role in society, in particular in relation to nature, climate change, discrimination and injustice.

·       2021 – A more inclusive and protective Europe (COM(2021)777) aims to include hate speech and hate crimes in the list of EU criminal offences.

·       2022 – The European Commission’s annual report on gender equality in the EU (SWD(2022)54) notes that women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In 2020, women’s labor market participation rate fell by 0.5% compared to 2019, after a decade of steady growth.