Aggressiveness and Violence in the Life of Romanian Women

In Romania, the communist period brought about some serious damage to the image of the woman both at the society and at the family level, a fact that generated numerous social problems. Later on, the transition from socialism to capitalism was carried out with difficulty, and, in order to overcome the crisis situation (both social and familial) created, after 1989 the politicians preferred to “import” solutions without adapting them to the needs of the people, to its lifestyle and especially to the religion and culture of this nation. Moreover, domestic violence “continued its natural course”, still being considered a hidden problem, protected by the privacy of the family, by the institution of marriage and conceived as a thing that was allowed, accepted. Studies that should analyse the real status of this social problem were carried out only at national level, with more emphasis being laid on identifying the cases reported and solved and on the types of violence the victims were subjected to, but, unfortunately, the local or regional studies that should bring new and specific elements are very few. For this reason, the present survey tries to analyse the issues related to woman’s victimisation within an area lying in the south of Romania, namely in the Argeş County, by shaping a portrait of the woman from this area who presents a high risk of being abused and by identifying the cultural and structural barriers that prevent abuse and provide the means the victims need in order to be safe. The interviews carried out with the victims of domestic violence, as well as the analysis of their files, for a period of three years, render, in addition to the severity of the acts of violence and the trauma suffered, the authorities’ incapacity to manage this phenomenon which seems to become more and more present in Romanian households every single day that goes by.