Women Victims of Domestic Violence: Analysis of Their Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System in Romania

Abstract Criminal justice interventions are important to reduce domestic violence and protect women. In this study we will tackle the unwillingness of women in two regions of Romania to press charges and the failure of the criminal justice system in providing them protection and justice. “Why don’t women press charges?” was the main question that stood at the basis of the international research WOSAFEJUS1, where Babeş-Bolyai University (UBB) was the main Romanian partner through its Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. In our paper we will analyse the studies relevant to the field of domestic violence and we will pay a special attention to those that take into consideration the functioning of the criminal justice system. We will present a preliminary analysis of the women’s perception of the criminal justice system in Romania. Our results are based on 76 semi-structured interviews with women in a situation of domestic violence. Atlas.ti was used to aid a thematic analysis of the qualitative data. The results will highlight women’s expectations regarding the justice system, the perceived usefulness of the legal intervention as well as the main factors that come into play when they decide to stay or to leave the criminal justice process. Even though in most of the cases police intervention can’t or doesn’t provide safety and the rapid elimination of danger, the importance of non-legislative factors of intervention has nevertheless been emphasized.