ROMANIAROMANIAA report on institutions, including psychiatric institutions and care facilities, in Romania found that children with disabilities were kept in permanent restraints, including being tied to chairs, tied up with bedsheets and kept in cribs.
(Ahern, L., Rosenthal, E., et al, [n.d.], Hidden Suffering: Romania’s Segregation and Abuse of Infants and Children with Disabilities, Mental Disability Rights International)
A 2007 study included a nationally representative poll of1,110 people and interviews with 155 teachers, doctors, psychologists and other adults who worked with children. 70% of the sample polled and 92% of professionals interviewed were aware that Romanian legislation included “provisions that forbid physical punishment and humiliating treatment of children”. 73% of the polled sample and 95% of professionals were aware that physical punishment and humiliating treatment of children were banned in all environments, including schools and the home. 97% of professionals believed that the law was necessary in Romania. 82% of the sample felt that an information campaign for the public on child protection legislation was “greatly needed” and 14% that it was needed to some extent. 90% of professionals thought that an information campaign for adults working with children was needed. The poll asked people to define “humiliating treatment of children”. Of the 923 people who answered this question, 60% referred to physical violence and 21% to psychological violence. 12% of the sample interviewed said that they were aware of children being treated violently in the families of friends or neighbours.
(Save the Children Romania, 2007, Study on the Level of Awareness of Child Protection Legislation Among the General Population and Experts)
An opinion poll of 1,200 children aged 8-13 years, carried out by Save the Children Romania during the 2002 national campaign "Beating is not from Heaven", found that 81% considered beating to be an inefficient method of education, 70% believed that child protection against violence was inadequate, 76% believed that adults should be punished by the state for beating children, and 82% felt that corporal punishment should be prohibited by law.
(Reported in International Save the Children Alliance, 2005, Ending Physical and Humiliating Punishment of Children - Making it Happen: Global Submission to the UN Study on Violence against Children, Save the Children Sweden)
International Save the Children report available at: www.rb.se/eng/Programme/Exploitationandabuse/Corporalpunishment/1415+Publications.htm
In a national survey in 2000 of 1,556 households with children, 1,295 school children aged 13-14 years, and 110 professionals, 47% of parents admitted using corporal punishment while 84% of children reported experiencing corporal punishment from their parents, including 20% who were beaten with objects and 15% who were afraid to go home because of the beatings. 16% of parents admitted to beating their children with an object, and 48% to threatening their children with beatings and other forms of punishment.
(Browne, K. et al., 2002, Child abuse and neglect in Romanian Families: A National Prevalence Study 2000, Bucharest: Romanian Government National Authority for Child Protection)
Research in 2000 by Save the Children Romania found that of a sample of 423 children aged 11-13 years, 75% reported experiencing physical abuse, including corporal punishment, with 5% reporting the need for medical treatment.
(Alexandrescu, G. et al., 2000, Child abuse and neglect, Save the Children Romania)