Voted in the plenary of the Senate: Automated national registry of sex offenders

The 102 senators present today voted 101 votes in favor, 0 against and 1 abstention. The votes were for the legislative proposal of MP Oana Bîzgan regarding the establishment of the automated national registry of perpetrators of sexual crimes, harassment or on minors.

The Registry is a means of operative knowledge, supervision and identification of people who have committed acts such as human trafficking and trafficking of minors, child abuse and prostitution, rape and sexual assault, sexual intercourse with a minor and sexual corruption of minors, child pornography, incest etc.

“Sexual offenses represent one of the greatest social dangers, both because of their violent nature and because of the long-term psychological effects they have on the victims – overwhelmingly women or children,” says Oana Bîzgan. An average of 5 cases of rape per day in Romania, an increasing number of pedophilia and child pornography cases, an overall recidivism rate of 70% in the case of sexual offenses – all these statistics explain the urgent need for prevention and control measures such as this registry.

The persons registered in the database – those who have been found guilty of sexual offenses, after the punishment – will be obliged to announce their intention to change their domicile or to travel leaving their hometown for longer than 15 days. The police are obliged to make periodic checks (minimum once every three months) of the respective registrants. Also, there is the obligation to update other personal data such as recent photos for a quick and accurate identification in case of committing a new deed, and the non-compliance with these provisions is punished by imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or with a fine.

According to the model and the procedures of the criminal record, these people will be issued a certificate of behavioral integrity based on the entries in the Registry, and this may be requested even before employment. According to the project voted today in the Senate plenary, institutions in the education, health or social protection system, as well as any public or private entity whose activity involves direct contact with children, the elderly, people with disabilities or other categories of vulnerable people, or which involve the physical examination or the psychological evaluation of a person, have the obligation to request the employees and volunteers to present the certificate of behavioral integrity (or a similar document, in the case of foreign citizens).

“The Registry does not deny the existence or importance of rehabilitation; not the punitive aspect is desirable, but the preventive one: a convicted pedophile will not be able to work at a school or in another institution where they could work with children”, the initiator of the project further explained.

The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police has the task of making the Registry functional until January 1, 2020. During that time the lack of the certificate of integrity will be replaced by evidence if the verified person committed any of the listed offenses. “I collaborated with several colleagues to improve the project originally submitted and the form voted today is the result of a teamwork for which I thank them and who confirmed to me that together, regardless of political affiliation, we can change Romania for the better. If there is a will, there are solutions that will make our lives and our children’s lives safer; therefore, I am optimistic that the law will be supported in the Chamber of Deputies too ”, says MP Oana Bîzgan, who obtained over 110 signatures from USR, UDMR, PMP, PSD, PNL and minorities for this national register.

Oana Bîzgan is an MP and Young Global Leader, a member of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men and the Committee on Economic Policy, Reform and Privatization of the Chamber of Deputies. She has started a great number of ambitious legislative initiatives, such as the law regarding street harassment, the punishment of moral harassment in the workplace, civil partnership and increasing form 3 to 7 years old the age at which the children in the protection system are sent to residential services.