With regard to the new civil code, relevant provisions include Art. 30 "Equality in front of the civil law" and Art. 258 "The Family" (freely given consent for marriage; equality of the spouses). In 2016, Romania ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). Romania has many laws banning discrimination. The problems in the country are not rooted in lack of legislation, as Romania has a strong "de jure" framework, but in the lack of enforcement of the existing laws - often due to bureaucracy, corruption, and social norms. The most important anti-discrimination laws are:   In addition to these laws specifically created to deal with discrimination, articles banning discrimination can also be found in many general laws, which deal with general aspects of life, and also contain specific articles banning discrimination in that area (e.g. Law no. 188 of 8 December 1999 republished [law on the status of civil servants], the Labour Code of 24 January 2003, the Law on National Education no.1/2011, etc.). Furthermore, discrimination is also addressed in the Criminal Code, art Art. 297 (2) which reads:""The same punishment applies to the action of a public servant who, while exercising their professional responsibilities, limits the exercise of a right of a person or creates for the latter a situation of inferiority on grounds of race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, sexual orientation, political membership, wealth, age, disability, chronic non-transmissible disease or HIV/AIDS infection"". Domestic violence is serious problem in Romania. Although Romania has improved its legislative framework in the 21st century, and also ratified the Istanbul Convention in 2016, violence against women occurring in the private sphere remains an issue. Romania was convicted by the ECHR in 2017 for its failure to act. Romania has been criticized for its failure to enforce the right to education of certain social groups, namely rural children and Roma children, notwithstanding the fact education in Romania is compulsory until the 10th grade (usually corresponding to age 16 or 17). Segregation of Roma children in schools, which is illegal, continues unofficially in some schools, and in 2017 the NGOs ERRC and Romani CRISS urged the European Commission to launch an investigation into the segregation of Roma children in schools. The access of children who live in rural areas to education is another area of concern: their situation becomes very problematic after the eighth grade (the last grade of middle school/gymnasium corresponding to age 14-15) because children must change schools to go to high school, and many villages do not have high schools, and therefore parents must make arrangements for their children to commute to the nearest locality or for the child to move there, which is difficult, and as a result many children abandon school (despite the fact that education is compulsory until tenth grade).