Romanian Senate head initiates bill imposing harsher penalties for child abusers
<p>The president of Romania’s National Liberal Party (PNL) and speaker of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, announced that he initiated a bill imposing harsher penalities for child abusers. </p>
<p>The bill makes it so those guilty of endangering the life or integrity of a minor can be sentenced to 5-10 years in prison, compared to the current legislation's 3-7 years.</p>
<p>"Child abusers will receive harsher penalties for their actions. For endangering the life or integrity of a minor, the sentence will be 5-10 years in prison, compared to the current legislation's 3-7 years. Through this increase, we aimed to eliminate the suspension of the sentence, allowed by the judicial system if the sentence is a maximum of 3 years," wrote the PNL president in a Facebook post. </p>
<p>Ciucă said that he thought of parents who are drug users when he wrote the bill. According to him, in this case, the sentence increases to 7-12 years in prison, as the drugs constitute an aggravating circumstance. </p>
<p>According to Ciucă, "the increase in these penalties improves the protection of the little ones, who can only grow up beautifully in a safe, violence-free environment. I am convinced that by protecting the harmonious development of children, we are investing in Romania's future."</p>
<p>Back in 2021, Save the Children Romania <a href="https://www.romania-insider.com/children-romania-abuse-violence">pointed out</a> that one in two Romanian children is subjected to some form of abuse.</p>
<p><em><a href="mailto:radu@romania-insider.com">radu@romania-insider.com</a></em></p>
<p><em>(Photo source: Save the Children Romania)</em></p>