PUBLIC HEALTH AND MANAGEMENT AMT, vol. 24, no. 4, 2019, p. 1 ACTA MEDICA TRANSILVANICA December;24(4):1-3 DOI: 10.2478/amtsb-2019-0001 Online ISSN 2285-7079 TRANSTEORETICAL APPROACHES ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RADU POPA-NEDELCU 1 , COSTE SISERMAN 2 , CARMEN DANIELA DOMNARIU 3 1 PhD Candidate, “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, 1 Vâlcea County Forensic Service 2 “Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, 3 “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu Keywords: domestic violence, authority, interventions, limitation of consequences Abstract: Domestic violence is a widespread public health problem. Domestic violence does not just manifest itself physically, it can take different forms, from verbal aggression to insults of psychological, emotional, sexual, material deprivation or simply negligence. All these affect the victim in many ways. Thus, the professionals in medical, legal sciences, but also the state authorities with responsibilities in social protection and assistance must know the phenomenon very well and find the best ways to fight it. No institution will be able to achieve this objective by working individually, but only an efficient cooperation of all these factors can contribute to limiting the negative effects and the state of vulnerability, but also to provide information and support to the victims. 1 Corresponding author: Radu Popa Nedelcu, Str. Mărăşeşti, Nr. 9B, Râmnicu Vâlcea, România, E-mail: popanedelcuradu@yahoo.com, Phone: +40724 995996 Article received on 06.11.2019 and accepted for publication on 02.12.2019 INTRODUCTION Domestic violence is an increasingly common situation today. The term domestic violence was first used in 1973 by Jack Ashley (1) who spoke of spouses who physically assault their wives, in an address to the UK Parliament. Therefore, for almost 5 decades, the authorities have been considering this phenomenon and fighting against it with all the means available to them. Despite this fact, the chapter is far from closed as new episodes of this kind always appear and new methods of response, bodies of action and protocols to be followed in the wake of domestic violence are needed. From then and until now and certainly from here on, many theories, details and meanings attributed to this entity will be formulated. However, one of the most plastic, but also accurate definitions is the one provided by the World Health Organization, which published a World Report on violence and health, which called domestic violence a scourge affecting community bases and threatening life, health and the happiness of all.(2) It is a statement that very accurately reproduces the characteristic notes of this notion. Indeed, these situations visibly affect our societies and therefore, the best techniques must be found to combat these unfortunate events. The first document of legal value that establishes that domestic violence is a violence of human rights is the Istanbul Convention.(3) It studies topics such as the proper prevention and punishment of situations with the harmonization of legislation, the protection of victims, the monitoring of objective realities through studies and specialized programmes, but also numerous topics related to discrimination regarding minorities, disabilities or opinions. Thus, new directions are to be followed in addressing violence of all types. Romania ratified the Convention in 2016, thus committing itself to participate with all the resources in achieving the goals proposed by it. Legal context Violence of any kind is punished according to the law in force. The issues related to the perpetrator’s liability in this situation are described in the Chapters of Offenses against life and bodily integrity or health in the Criminal Code. The hit or any acts of violence causing suffering are punished with imprisonment or fine, depending on the severity of the traumatic injuries (articles 188 and 189, respectively 193-195), even the threat with such acts, or even murder. Regarding the intra-family aggressions, there are exact specifications in art. 199 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that for acts committed on a family member, the special maximum of the punishment provided by law is increased by one-fourth. It is also mentioned that the criminal action can be initiated also ex officio, and the reconciliation of the parties removes the criminal responsibility.(4) Therefore, domestic violence is foreseen as a crime. Although it has a fixed structure and it seems that all possible situations are regulated precisely, there is always room for improvement. The multitude of circumstances and their variability bring about the necessity of continuous improvement of the legislation. As in some communities a certain level of violence is accepted (5), it is clear that evolution is expected in most areas, but also regarding mentalities. Also, the law provides for the possibility of issuing a restraining order so that when life, physical, mental integrity, or freedom is threatened by an act of violence of a family member, a protection order may be requested, by which it may be arranged different obligations or restrictions such as: the temporary evacuation of the aggressor from the family home, the aggressor being forced to keep a minimum distance or the prohibition of any contact.(6) In Romania, there is also the Institution of the People’s Advocate, which can be consulted by the initiators of the draft laws and ordinances which, through the content of the regulations, concern the rights and freedoms of the citizens, provided by the Constitution of Romania, the pacts and other international treaties regarding the fundamental human rights to which Romania this part. Also, it can be notified ex officio or at