2025: the year when all is not lost for gender equality

Romania remains among the last countries in the EU in terms of gender equality, with growing gaps compared to the European average. Specific progress is not supported by coherent public policies, and political discourse continues to instrumentalize women and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. The alarming increase in cases of violence against women, including femicide, highlights structural failures: ineffective prevention and institutional interventions, limited and unevenly distributed support services, and fragmented procedures in justice, health, education, and social assistance. Without integrated policies, adequate gender-sensitive funding, and an intersectional approach, fundamental rights remain insufficiently protected.

Romania continues to rank among the lowest countries in Europe in terms of gender equality[1], with a score of 57 points, compared to countries such as Sweden or France, which score over 73 points, with the European average standing at 63.4 points. The most worrying aspect of this ranking is that Romania's progress is below the average progress of European countries, which leads to widening gaps. While in 2010 Romania had a score close to the European average, with a difference of only 2 points, the gap has now exceeded 6 points.

The gender equality index is calculated based on 27 indicators aggregated into six areas: work, money, knowledge, time, power, and health. Two other areas have been added to these indicators this year: gender-based violence and intersectional inequalities. The area where the most progress has been made is power. Economic power has increased by 16.5 points compared to 2020, followed by social power, which has increased by 9.3 points. However, Romania continues to have the lowest score in the area of power. In contrast, work is one of the areas where Romania is experiencing a steady decline in gender equality, with the employment rate for women (relative to the full-time norm) falling to just 40%, while for men it has remained constant at 58%[2] .

Women in electoral discourse

The year 2025 began under the shadow of sexist rhetoric propagated in the 2024 election campaigns, which left visible traces in the public sphere and on the political agenda. Messages that exploited gender stereotypes, reduced women's roles to family and motherhood, and portrayed women's rights organizations as a threat to " traditional values" continued to circulate even after the 2024 elections ended.

The year 2025 marked, perhaps more clearly than any other year before, the moment when women's electoral potential became visible and relevant in the political equation. Both candidates in the second round of the presidential elections discussed mobilizing the female electorate, and had campaign messages specifically addressed to women. survey[3] indicated at the time that women tend to vote democratically and play an important role among undecided voters. However, political interest in the issues facing women remains superficial: a monitoring of the elections in Romania shows that, in the 2025 campaign, the term "woman" appeared in 65% of statements referring to the family, "the group of women being discussed as homogeneous, non-intersectional, with the few references to the diversity of women targeting young women and, to a lesser extent, women in rural areas and single mothers"[4]. Thus, although women were visible in the electoral discourse, political attention to their real problems remains limited and stereotypical; "the election campaign largely ignored the issues that directly concern us"[5]. The electoral mobilization of women was treated primarily as a tool for electoral gain, to the detriment of a real recognition of their needs and an authentic political will to provide adequate public policies that respond to these needs. 

Violence against women: the year when femicide was most debated

The year 2025 is also the year in which, on average, a woman was killed every week. The case of the 23-year-old pregnant woman killed by a 49-year-old man in front of her daughter in a residential complex near the capital had a strong impact on public opinion[6]. Subsequent investigations revealed that the attacker had been abusing the young woman since she was 14 and he was 40, sexually exploiting and harassing her for years, during which time the victim repeatedly sought help from the authorities but did not receive the necessary support to protect her life.

The case served as a revelation of the persistent structural problems in Romanian society in 2025 regarding the protection of women and girls. Firstly, it became clear that the institutional system was incapable of providing real safety for women, both through prevention mechanisms and through the monitoring of reported cases and rapid and effective intervention in situations of violence. This reality was reinforced by other cases of femicide, in which the victims had or were denied a protection order prohibiting the aggressor from approaching the victim. These unacceptable failures of the police and the justice system are amplified by the lack or inadequacy of support services for women who want to protect themselves from abusers (shelters, psychological counseling, legal assistance, and social support) – services that are insufficient in large cities but totally non-existent in small towns and rural areas. 

At the same time, the case brings to light the alarming frequency of sexual abuse of underage girls, as well as the social and institutional opacity surrounding these situations. Often, such cases remain unreported, minimized, or treated with tolerance, in a context where responsibility is shifted from the aggressor to the victim. Romania continues to be among the European states with the highest rate of births among underage girls, with these pregnancies often being the result of relationships marked by significant age differences and obvious power imbalances[7].

All these elements point to a persistent normalization of violence against women and girls, coupled with victim blaming and a culture of silence that perpetuates impunity and discourages access to justice. This case is not an exception, but a symptom of a system that continues to fail to protect women's fundamental rights, in the absence of coherent, well-funded public policies focused on the real needs of victims.

Cases of femicide sparked spontaneous protests in Bucharest and other cities in Romania in the summer of 2025, and public discontent and collective frustration culminated in October with the National March "Together for Women's Safety", organized by the Network for the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women (V.I.F. Network). This march, held simultaneously in more than 10 cities and attended by thousands of people, expressed civil society's desire for the authorities to take concrete measures to prevent femicide and gender-based violence, amend legislation on risk assessment and victim protection, criminalize forced marriage as a separate offense, and introduce gender equality education in schools for future generations[8]. Romania faces a number of structural deficiencies in preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, issues also highlighted in the Shadow Report on monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention[9], coordinated by the ANAIS Association[10] and submitted to the Council of Europe. The central conclusion of the report is that the state's response remains largely formal and ineffective: services continue to be focused on institutions rather than survivors, and access to shelters and legal assistance is blocked by the lack of training for professionals who interact with victims of violence, the absence of institutional protocols indicating how to identify and manage these situations—particularly in the areas of education and health—as well as fragmented institutional procedures, including local influences, which affect the coherence and effectiveness of institutions in the legal, social assistance, and security fields. 

The need to address violence against women remains urgent: one in three Romanian women has experienced physical violence, threats, or sexual violence from their partner[11]. In the context of media coverage of femicide cases, 2025 was also the year with the most legislative initiatives in the field of domestic violence and violence against women. However, the same report assessed that the changes to domestic violence legislation are insignificant because they do not address the structural causes of the problem: the legal framework continues to focus on "domestic violence" without explicitly integrating gender-based violence against women, as required by the Istanbul Convention, and does not provide clear rules for implementation, monitoring mechanisms, or sanctions. As a result, the law remains largely "on paper," invoked in official reports but with limited effects in practice[12]. 

Weakening of the state and institutions responsible for combating gender-based violence and promoting gender equality

Although violence against women is frequently invoked in public discourse at the highest levels—from the Presidency and representatives of all parliamentary parties to the special "Romania without Violence" commission in Parliament—this symbolic commitment is only partially reflected in concrete public policies and budget allocations. The austerity measures taken by the Bolojan government, which took office in June 2025, particularly affect women from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups—women engaged in informal care work and without health insurance, underage mothers, and women with disabilities. The austerity measures, as formulated, directly affect the level of funding and functioning of public services and make working conditions more difficult for workers who interact directly with victims and who play a role in preventing and managing cases of violence: medical staff, social workers, police officers, magistrates[13]. Last but not least, given that violence against women is rooted in their disadvantaged status in society, the economic vulnerability of women will exacerbate the phenomenon of violence against them.

At the same time, we are witnessing a weakening of institutions. The transfer of the National Agency for Equal Opportunities (ANES), the main institution responsible for promoting equal opportunities and combating domestic violence, from the coordination of the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Labor, Family, Youth, and Social Solidarity, as of the end of 2025, represents a change with not only symbolic but also practical implications. This institutional reconfiguration weakens ANES's ability to assume a real role of inter-institutional coordination and monitoring, while also reducing its ability to initiate and coordinate cross-cutting public policies that support gender equality and the prevention of violence against women in key areas such as public safety, education, justice, the economy, and health[14]. 

LGBTQIA+ rights, between political instrumentalization and European obligations

The instrumentalization of social differences and vulnerabilities, visible both in the way women were represented in election campaigns and in the superficial treatment of gender-based violence, has reached an even more aggressive level in the political discourse on LGBTQIA+ rights, where issues related to equality and protection are frequently turned into tools for polarization and electoral mobilization. This type of discourse was already visible in the Coalition for Family (CPF) campaign for the 2018 referendum, and in 2024 and 2025 it was revived and strategically exploited to distract the electorate from important structural issues such as the precariousness of social infrastructure, social inequalities, and the lack of decent jobs. This strategy worked as a distraction mechanism, transforming economic and social frustrations into hostility towards sexual and gender minorities.

One of the discursive strategies used by illiberal or conservative candidates was to construct an artificial antagonism between an idealized "us", associated with family and traditions, and an "them" presented as a threat to these values. This approach is part of a broader context of the consolidation of conservative and far-right political forces, active in both Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, where anti-gender rhetoric is instrumentalized to legitimize traditionalist policies, restrict the rights of women and minorities, and accumulate electoral capital. Most worrying in Romania is the fact that, in 2025, this type of polarising language has not only spread, but has also been legitimised by its adoption by mainstream political actors[15].

One of the most important demands on the public agenda of the LGBTQIA+ community in Romania remains the achievement of some form of legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, an issue that, in the 2024 and 2025 election campaigns, was frequently exploited politically to fuel fear, polarization, and electoral mobilization. Legal recognition of same-sex couples is essential to guarantee basic civil rights—recognition of family status, access to legal and administrative protection. In the absence of this recognition, same-sex couples are deprived of rights that heterosexual couples automatically enjoy, such as the right to visit their partner in hospital or make medical decisions in case of illness, the right to leave in case of their partner's death, or the right to inheritance.

Romania is among the last five countries in the European Union that do not recognize same-sex couples—neither through marriage nor civil partnership. Furthermore, Romania's Civil Code expressly prohibits the recognition of same-sex unions entered into in another EU country. In a broader context, it is important to note that Romania ranks last in the European Union in terms of LGBTQIA+ rights, with 18.63 points out of 100, compared to the European Union average of 51.13 points[16].

At the end of 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announced a landmark decision requiring the Romanian state to grant basic rights to gay couples. According to the CJEU decision, EU member states must recognize same-sex marriages between EU citizens performed in another member state. In this context, based on the international treaties it has signed, Romania has an obligation to establish a clear, predictable, and uniform procedure for recognizing civil status documents, applicable equally to both heterosexual and same-sex couples. Although this measure does not lead to the possibility of entering into a form of civil partnership between persons of the same sex in Romania, it will guarantee that couples who are recognized in other EU countries will not lose their right to private and family life once they enter Romanian territory. 

Conclusions and recommendations

In terms of gender equality, 2025 was strongly marked by election campaign rhetoric and much more visible public debates on gender-based violence, in particular the phenomenon of femicide. At the same time, this year highlighted the fragility of institutional mechanisms dedicated to gender equality and combating violence against women.

Romania must strengthen the relevant institutions, allocate sufficient material and human resources to prevention, protection and support services for victims, and adopt cross-cutting policies that promote gender equality and combat gender-based violence. Last but not least, we recommend an integrative and intersectional approach to gender in public policies and budget allocations. This means that any legislative decision, government program, or public funding must take into account the differences and inequalities that affect women from different social categories in different ways, including age, socioeconomic status, place of residence, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation[17]. In the context of the rise of the radical right across Europe, without real involvement from the authorities, public discourse and symbolic statements will not succeed in protecting the fundamental rights of women and marginalized people.

[1] European Institute for Gender Equality (2025), Gender Equality Index 2025, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

[2] https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2025/country/RO 

[3] CURS, May 2025.

[4] Dragolea, Alina et al. 2025. Monitoring the 2024/2025 presidential and parliamentary elections in Romania. An intersectional perspective: gender, sexual orientation, and minorities. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Publikationen der Stiftung / Monitorizarea alegerilor prezidenţiale şi parlamentare 2024/2025 din România

[5] https://romania.fes.de/ro/e/dupa-alegeri-va-inchidem-sorosistelor-sexism-polarizare-si-solidaritate-in-alegerile-parlamentare-si-prezidentiale-din-romania.html 

[6] https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/caz-socant-langa-capitala-femeie-insarcinata-impuscata-pe-strada-de-fostul-iubit-starea-ei-este-critica-3265047?__grsc=cookieIsUndef0&__grts=58836448&__grua=89db729cfcdc129111f017b0e7ac324a&__grrn=1 

[7] Simion, Mădălina. 2025. Prevention of (recurring) teenage pregnancy. Guide. Association of Independent Midwives. https://moasele.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Prevenirea-recurentei-sarcinii-la-minore_Ghid.pdf 

[8] https://violentaimpotrivafemeilor.ro/marsul-impreuna-pentru-siguranta-femeilor-2025/ 

[9] Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. https://rm.coe.int/168046253e 

[10] ANAIS Association. 2025. Shadow Report on the Implementation of the Istanbul Convention. Romania. https://rm.coe.int/shadow-report-on-romania-anais-association/488028b2b0 

[11] FRA, EIGE, Eurostat. 2024. EU gender-based violence survey – Key results. Experiences of women in the EU-27, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

[12] Law No. 1/2025 amending and supplementing Law No. 217/2003. 

[13]  Austeritatea ucide. Cum poate fi alimentată violența împotriva femeilor de tăierile bugetare. Explicațiile unei cercetătoare

[14] https://asociatia-anais.ro/anes-nu-s-a-mai-comasat-dar-s-a-subordonat-am-evitat-un-dezastru-dar-n-am-scapat-complet/

[15] See Dragolea et al., 2025.

[16] https://rainbowmap.ilga-europe.org/

[17] Băluță, Ionela, Dumitru, Anca. 2023. Analysis of gender equality policies in Romania. Gender mainstreaming, political and economic empowerment of women, gender budgeting 2016-2022. https://anes.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Analiza-privind-politicile-egalitatii-de-gen-in-Romania.-Abordarea-integratoare-de-gen-imputernicirea-politica-si-economica-a-femeilor-bugetarea-de-gen-2016-2022.pdf

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

About the author:

Irina Ilisei, PhD, is a researcher, activist, and trainer with over 15 years of experience in gender equality, human rights, and civic participation. She holds a PhD in political science from SNSPA and a master's degree in gender and minority policies from the same university.