President Nicusor Dan announced on Thursday that he has promulgated the Law on the prevention and combating of femicide, a piece of legislation described as 'extremely necessary.'

'I have today promulgated the Law on the prevention and combating of femicide and the violence that precedes it. Violence against women is one of the most humiliating and degrading forms of behaviour. This type of aggression has for far too long been either ignored or insufficiently addressed, with dramatic consequences. Therefore, also as an act of acknowledging a painful reality that we have a duty to correct, a law that establishes severe penalties and promotes measures to prevent femicide and domestic violence is extremely necessary,' Nicusor Dan wrote on Facebook.

The head of state welcomed the initiative of parliamentarians who 'have understood the gravity of this phenomenon and have carried out the necessary legislative amendments.'

'This law turns the Romanian state's commitment to guaranteeing the safety of women and children into a concrete prevention mechanism, providing authorities with the tools needed to intervene in time, before violence becomes a tragedy. It is a particularly important step towards raising awareness of the causes of abuse and violence against women, as well as towards a more effective, more humane justice system, which not only firmly punishes aggressors, but also understands and actively prevents the suffering of the most vulnerable among us,' the president added.

The promulgated law defines femicide as the intentional killing of a woman, as well as the death of a woman resulting from assaults or injuries causing death or other intentional offences followed by the victim's death, regardless of whether the acts are committed by a family member or another person.

Intimate femicide is the intentional killing of a woman or the commission of an intentional offence followed by the woman's death, carried out by a family member, which includes, but is not limited to, killing motivated by the belief that the perpetrator can exercise control and dominance over a woman or aimed at preventing or suppressing the exercise of her fundamental rights or freedoms, as well as acts committed in the name of culture, customs, religion, tradition or so-called 'honour' or with the purpose of preserving or restoring the reputational characteristics of a person, a family, a community or another similar group.

Indirect femicide involves the death of a woman as a result of female genital mutilation or similar acts, as well as the suicide of a woman as a result of intimate partner violence or within a family context.

The term 'women' also includes girls under the age of 18.

The penalty for femicide is imprisonment from 6 to 12 years.

If the acts are committed against a person as forms of exercising control or dominance due to the fact that the perpetrator is or has been in a marital relationship with the victim or in a relationship similar to that between spouses, regardless of its duration or whether the perpetrator lived with the victim, the special limits of the penalty provided by law shall be increased by one quarter.

If the acts referred to are committed against a family member, the maximum special limit of the penalty provided by law shall be increased by one quarter.

Criminal proceedings shall be initiated ex officio. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Ghita; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)