The situation of women in Romania is not "rosy", and there are still significant steps to be taken to achieve gender equality.

On the one hand, women in Romania have a longer life expectancy than men and are more likely to graduate from high school and college compared to men. 

On the other hand, gender differences are felt in the lack of political representation of women and in the lack of protection they unfortunately need against acts of violence.

Yet another distressing aspect is that Romania holds the title of being the "leader" in the EU concerning underage mothers, referring to girls who become mothers all too soon.

ProTV News offers you the statistical "portrait", "on average", of women in Romania, along with the areas where society must make additional efforts to fully recognize women's true value. 

In 2023, Romania ranked last in terms of gender equality according to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), with a score of 56.1 out of 100, being 14.1 points below the European Union (EU) average.

Ahead of us are Bulgaria, with a score of 65.1, and Hungary, with 57.3 points.

In Romania, women represent half of the population. As of January 1, 2023, the population reached 21,922,000 people, and women accounted for 51.2% (11,224,200 people), according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS). 

In Romania, the life expectancy for women is 79 years, while for men it is 71 years and 9 months. However, Romania ranks second to last in the EU in terms of life expectancy (74.2 years), being ten years lower than residents of some other states (France, Germany, Spain) and eight years lower than the EU average (80.1 years).

An important aspect that influences life expectancy in Romania is the high number of cancer patients, both among women and men. A reading of the Country Cancer Profile 2023 shows that Romania records negatives in almost all chapters.

Cancer mortality is above the EU average, namely 264 deaths per hundred thousand inhabitants in Romania, compared to 247 per hundred thousand inhabitants in the EU, in 2019. Moreover, since 2020, mortality in Romania has increased for six types of cancer - (breast, pancreatic, prostate, cervical, hepatic and bladder cancer).

Looking at the distribution of new cancer cases by gender, there are 51,879 cases in men and 43,397 in women.

For women, according to the report, 28% of cases are breast cancer, 12% are colorectal cancers, and 8% are cervical cancers, while at the EU level, out of 1,237,588 new cases, 29% are breast cancer, 12% are colon and rectal cancer, and 9% are lung cancer.

After cardiovascular diseases, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Romania, accounting for 19% of the total.

A positive aspect in Romania regarding gender equality is the level of education of women. INSSE statistical data for 2021 show that female graduates outnumber males by 30,000 (265,704 f > 237,791 m).

Women generally graduate from high schools and theoretical colleges, outnumbering men by more than 30,000. (43,005 f > 33,045 m). However, in technical high schools, men are more often graduates, with a difference of over 7,000 people (17,828 m > 10,820 f). There is an overwhelming difference in graduates by gender also in pedagogical high schools, where women outnumber men by 2,000, who sum up to only 172.

Turning to university education, women are again in the lead when looking at bachelor's degrees, totaling 48,180 versus men, who number only 34,274.

At the master's level, the situation is reversed, with men outnumbering women by over 10,000. (25,869 m > 14,994 f). However, in doctoral programs, women outnumber men, with 1,240 versus men who remain at a total of 1,023.

Regarding jobs, in Romania, the share of women working is 48% of total employees, according to INS data for 2022.

Based on the studies completed, mainly theoretical and pedagogical high schools, most women work in fields where interpersonal skills, empathy and care for others are essential.

Thus, we are talking about the medical field (positions of medical assistants, doctors, pharmacists) - 342,598 women (out of 431,888 employees), human resources - 120,586 women (out of 311,452 employees), education - 257,884 women (out of 353,869 employees), commerce - 473,592 women (out of 899,845 employees), public administration - 114,426 women (out of 293,926 employees).

However, the fewest work in agriculture(28,758), construction (57,951) and the manufacturing industry (527,374).

Regarding salaries, women in Romania are an example at the European level: the average gross salary of women in February 2024 was 6,026 lei, HIGHER than men, which was 5,804 lei.

One explanation is the predominance of women in the public administration of Romania, an economic sector with a high average salary compared to the average wage as a whole (in December 2023, the average net salary was 5,079 lei, while the salary in public administration was 6,493 lei net, namely almost a third higher than the economy-wide average).

In 2022, in Romania, 182,083 children were born, of which 93,631 were boys and 88,452 were girls, according to INS data. In the same year, the average age of mothers at birth was 28 years, and at first birth, it was 27 years.

Unfortunately, another negative aspect is the high number of births among minors, our country ranking first in the European Union (EU) in the statistics regarding their number. In 2020, 44% of girls in member states who gave birth before the age of 15 were from our country, according to Eurostat data.

In 2022, there were 7,120 births to girls between 15 and 19 years old, and 705 girls under 15 became mothers. In the statistics for 2022, Mureș County is in the first place with 75 underage mothers, followed by Dolj (41), Bacău (39) and Bihor (37), according to INS data transmitted to ProTV News.

During pregnancy, some girls were enrolled in the education system, according to INS data. Out of a total of 7,120 underage mothers, 837 had no formal education, 2,356 had only primary education, 3,189 had only lower secondary education, 425 were enrolled in vocational education, and only 136 in high school. Again, Mureș ranks first with 465 young mothers without formal education, followed by Sibiu with 232 mothers, Prahova with 183, Suceava with 175 and Satu Mare with 164.

Another weak point in Romania regarding gender equality is the lack of representation of women in politics. The report of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) shows that Romania ranks second to last in terms of women's political power.

Women who run or hold positions with real decision-making power remain low: below 20%. Out of 466 senators and deputies, only 87 are women, namely 18.8%. The European average in national parliaments is 32.5%, and in the European Parliament, out of the deputies elected in the last legislature, 39% are women.

Out of over 250,000 candidates registered in the local elections in September 2020, only 23% were women. In contrast, in the parliamentary elections in December, 29% of the candidates were women, according toExpert Forum data.

In the EU block, there are countries that fare much better in terms of gender quotas. For example, in France and Germany, women and men have an equal number of seats in politics. Since 2016, Moldova has also introduced into law the obligation for parties to include both sexes in proportions of 40% on candidate lists.

The Romanian Police published at the end of 2023 the figures regarding women who were victims of domestic violence. In the first 11 months of the year, 97,840 cases of domestic violence were reported, of which 46,363 in urban areas and 51,477 in rural areas. 

It should be noted that the number of these cases is much higher in reality, as many of them are not reported to institutions and remain in the shadows, but are just as real and painful for the victims.

The number of criminal acts in the field of domestic violence increased by 4.82% compared to the first 11 months of 2022, from 50,531 to 52,969 acts. During the mentioned period, the police issued 12,033 provisional protection orders, 4,962 of which were converted into protection orders by the courts.

Looking at the facts, the highest share of offenses are: "assault or other violence" - 62% (32,737 acts); "threat" - 12% (6,408 acts); "abandonment of family" - 9% (4,703 acts); "non-compliance with measures ordered by protection orders" - 7% (3,899 acts) and "non-compliance with measures ordered by provisional protection orders" - 1% (789 acts), together accounting for 95% of the total.

Of the total victims of domestic violence offenses, 9,951 are men, 37,408 are women, and 8,070 are minors. Although the number of victims is high, the centers where women can go to escape the aggressor are much fewer, namely 152. 

The complete list of centers can be accessed HERE.