Romania

[RO] Audiovisual media and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

IRIS 2023-1:1/11

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

The National Audiovisual Council (CNA) joined the national campaign launched for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, and supported by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities (see inter alia IRIS 2011-9/31, IRIS 2012-1/39, IRIS 2012-4/36, IRIS 2014-3/38, IRIS 2017-6/27, IRIS 2019-8/35, IRIS 2022-5/15, and IRIS 2022-8/24).

In this context, the Council reminded broadcasters that in audiovisual programmes in which the topic of violence against women is addressed, it is mandatory to ensure that the public is informed of the existence of the telephone number for victims of domestic violence "Telverde", in accordance with Article 42² of the Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002 (Chapter III⁵ - Protection of victims of domestic violence).

During 2022, the Council warned broadcasters about the need to display the Telverde number on the screen, by sending letters both to television stations and to users who upload content, after analysing the monitoring reports related to audiovisual productions broadcast by central TV stations. The members of the Council took into account the fact that the characters in these productions are characterised by the way they speak and act. However, taking into consideration the image of women and gender stereotypes in traditional society, the Council drew attention to the fact that, even in the case of some audiovisual fictional productions in which female characters are victims, the Telverde number must be shown on screen.

The National Audiovisual Council has discussed the way in which women are presented in the audiovisual space as victims of domectic violence with representatives of broadcasters on several occassions this year, and, where it found deviations from the provisions of the legislation, decided to apply sanctions.

Among the sanctions given by the Council was a fine of RON 10 000 (approximately EUR 2 000) applied to a broadcaster for breaching the provisions of Article 47 paragraph (3) of the Audiovisual Content Regulation Code, according to which "[g]eneralising defamatory statements against a group/community defined by gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, education level, social category, medical condition or physical characteristics are prohibited in audiovisual programmes".

A public summons was applied by the CNA to a radio station because the broadcaster had breached the provisions of Articles 42² and 42³ of the Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002. At the same time, seven public summonses were applied by the Council to some central television stations which were not observing the provisions of Article 42² of the Audiovisual Law.

Article 42³ provides: “Informing victims of domestic violence about the existence of the telephone number "Telverde intended for victims of domestic violence" is done, in the case of broadcasters, by reading the text "In case of emergency, call the Telverde number intended for victims of domestic violence", accompanied by a note with the Telverde telephone number.