Sexual harassment can be reported anonymously. The law, which was adopted in the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body, will give victims the opportunity to submit petitions and complaints without declaring their identity. The next step is for the law to be promulgated by the President of Romania.
The Alfred Bulai case changed Romanian legislation. Source: archive
Currently, the law provides that the petition in which the identification data of the person submitting it is not entered is not taken into account and classified. The adopted project, however, introduces an exception to this provision, stating that anonymous petitions will be taken into account if they refer to cases of sexual harassment or moral harassment. Basically, until the adoption of the law, if you wanted to file a complaint, you had to assume this with your first and last name. Which is why, in the case of sexual assaults in universities and even at work, the victim chose, most of the time, to remain silent.
Representative Filia: “The law will contribute to increasing the number of reports of cases of abuse”
“I think it’s a good measure, especially when we talk about reporting cases of sexual harassment, there are many barriers. Shame kicks in, various fears about how the victim will be labeled by others, fears about various repercussions that might arise. And then the fact that you can make this report anonymously helps and we believe that it will contribute to an increase in the number of reports”, Adela Alexandru, gender equality expert at the Filia Center, told “Adevărul”.
The specialist draws attention to an extremely important fact that will be implemented with the application of the new law: “If criminal elements are found in the reports filed, they will be reported to the specialized bodies. And this helps because, until now, there are few cases in which such situations have reached the criminal sphere and were subsequently judged by specialized bodies”.
Here, after all, the case of the sociologist Alfred Bulai, which was highly publicized in recent months, led to the amendment of the legislation. “From now on, we hope that there will be no more rumors without reports. We hope for some concrete actions. I believe that such a change will help to increase the confidence of people who experience sexual harassment and are thinking about reporting these acts.” Adela Alexandru also specified.
Moreover, this new legislation will also bring more clarity regarding the procedural elements when reporting cases. “Whoever wants to report a situation will know what he has to do, concretely”, the Filia representative also specified.
In universities, special structures responsible for handling cases of abuse will be established
Sergiu Covaci, president of the National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania, told “Adevărul” that “along with this change comes the decision to establish, within the universities, special structures that will collaborate with the Ethics Commissions and that will be directly responsible for everything that means sexual harassment and abuse. A special core, a separate entity that will have as its field of activity the management of this problem, when it arises. Moreover, according to the law, these structures will notify the courts, the prosecutor’s office and all the structures responsible for each type of referral”.
The student hopes that the number of reports of abuse or harassment will not increase, as we expect, or go down to zero, but acknowledges that the law will give everyone the opportunity to file complaints: “This regulation is an important step towards combating the phenomenon, but with time it will, we hope, only be for prevention. Because prevention is the simplest way. I don’t think there have to be victims for us to realize that we have to take a measure.”
Psychologist: “A coming law and certain risks”
According to psychologists, the new legislation is a double-edged sword and comes with both advantages and disadvantages. Psychologist Elena Dobre explained to “Adevărul” that there are several major risks: “First of all, I must tell you that the trauma of sexual assault or abuse will not heal just because the victim has the opportunity to report the abuser anonymously. That person needs years of therapy to overcome the moment. No denunciation can redeem the trauma. Whoever believes this is lying to himself.”
The psychologist believes that the possibility of submitting anonymous complaints could be used with bad intentions by some people: “We could be dealing with young people who will file such petitions without going further, in court, for compensation. But there could also be people who claim moral damages. Here is an attractive source of money for some”.
Then, the psychologist continues, this law may open the door to another type of abuse, this time coming from students: “There is a risk that some students will resort to blackmail and even revenge. You can destroy a man’s career very easily. Then, many acts of aggression, violence, abuse could be “flowered”, exaggerated, and the aggressor could be accused of untrue facts”.
There is also the risk that certain bona fide teachers, who have never been involved in any scandal of any kind, will come to classes fearful, anxious about what might happen to them. “They will control their looks, their gestures, what they say and how they say it so that nothing can be interpreted. This can lead to anxiety and even depression.” says the psychologist.
As for the truly aggressive and abusive, this measure will not stop them from continuing their behavior. “A bully remains a bully all his life. It won’t change. They may be more cautious at first, but they won’t stop. Once installed and entered into the behavioral patterns of that individual, this behavior will only disappear with great difficulty. Many times, these things are not curable even through therapies”.
The psychologist is of the opinion that it would be best to assume such a claim. Things should be as transparent as possible precisely to leave no room for interpretation. Instead, society should help victims, not point fingers and put them up against the wall. And justice should do its job. “The civic spirit should be encouraged, the people around the victims should support them on all levels, the authorities should protect them, defend their rights. There should be no more fear of repercussions if they report such a case”, the specialist also said.
The project was initiated by the government shortly after the outbreak of the scandal involving former university professor Alfred Bulai. He is being prosecuted after several female students accused him of sexual harassment.
