Legal Definitions in the EU Member States
This resource includes the legal definitions of different types of gender-based violence used in EU Member States, according to their legal terminology and national legislation. It was last updated in 2019 and makes a reference to the United Kingdom as a member state of the European Union.
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HungaryViolence, JusticeIntimate Partner Violence
No criminal offense by itself, but an aggravating feature.
ObservationsFor example: Criminal Code, Section 202
- The person who induces a person who has not yet completed his fourteenth year, to have sexual intercourse or to fornicate with another person, commits a felony and shall be punishable with imprisonment from one year to five years.
- The person who has completed his eighteenth year and strives to persuade a person who has not yet completed his fourteenth year, to have sexual intercourse or to fornicate with another person, commits a felony, and shall be punishable with imprisonment of up to three years.
- The punishment shall be imprisonment from two years to eight years, or from one year to five years, respectively, if the injured party of the crime defined in subsections (1) or (2) is a relative of the perpetrator, or is under the education, supervision, care or medical treatment of the perpetrator.
Legal Source:Criminal Code
Legal provisions on protection orders:On 6 June 2013 Hungary joined the new regulation which complements the ‘European protection order’. It guarantees that victims and survivors of domestic violence can rely on restraint or protection orders issued against the perpetrator in their own country when they travel or move to another EU country.
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HungaryViolence, JusticeRape
A person who by violent action or direct menace against life or limb forces a woman to have sexual intercourse, or uses the incapacity of the woman for defence or for the manifestation of her will for sexual intercourse, commits a felony and shall be punishable with imprisonment between two to eight years.
ObservationsSpecial circumstances (in the same legal provision):
- The punishment shall be imprisonment from five years to ten years, if a) the victim is under twelve years of age, b) the victim is under the education, supervision, care or medical treatment of the perpetrator, c) more than one person have sexual intercourse with the victim on the same occasion, knowing about each other’s acts.
- The punishment shall be imprisonment between five to fifteen years if the provisions of Paragraph b) or c) of Subsection (2) also apply to rape committed against a victim under twelve years of age.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Section 197
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HungaryViolence, JusticeSexual Assault (excl. rape)
(1) Any person who in order to make him intimidate you, or to a private life or daily life arbitrarily intervene regularly or permanently else bother, especially with someone else, against her will, by means of telecommunication or in person on a regular basis to connect attempt when a graver crime is realized, commits a misdemeanour and up to one year of imprisonment, community service or a fine.
(2) Violent or causing public danger of committing an offense against the person threatening, commits an offense who else to view it or relatives fear, and up to two years imprisonment, community service or a fine.
(3) Any person bullying a) anex-spouse or ex- spousecommitted by a person standing b) education, supervision , care or medical treatment of the injury, up to two years imprisonment cases referred to in paragraph (1), community service or a fine ,in the case referred to in paragraph (2) For a felony of up to three years' imprisonment .Observations"Assault against decency" (Criminal Code, Section 198)
- A person who by violence or direct menace against life or limb forces another person to engage in sodomy or to the endurance thereof, or uses for sodomy the incapacity of another person for defence or for manifestation of will, commits a felony and shall be punishable with imprisonment between two to eight years.
- The punishment shall be imprisonment from five years to ten years, if a) the victim is under twelve years of age, b) the victim is under the education, supervision, care or medical treatment of the perpetrator; c) if several persons sodomize the victim on the same occasion, knowing about each other’s act.
- The punishment shall be imprisonment between five to fifteen years if the provisions of Paragraph b) or c) of Subsection (2) also apply to the sexual assault committed against a victim under twelve years of age.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Section 176
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HungaryViolence, JusticeSexual Harassment
(1) The person obliged to conduct the education, supervision of or care for a minor, who seriously violates his obligations arising from such duty, and thereby endangers the physical, intellectual or moral development of the minor, commits a felony and shall be punishable with imprisonment between one to five years. (2) Unless a graver crime is realized, that major person shall be punishable in accordance with subsection (1), who induces or tries to induce a minor to the perpetration of a crime or to the pursuance of a dissolute way of life.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Section 195
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MaltaViolence, JusticeIntimate Partner Violence
In Malta, "domestic violence" means: any act of violence, even if only verbal, perpetrated by a household member upon another household member and includes any omission which causes physical or moral harm to the other.
Observations"Household member" includes: (i) persons married or formerly married to eachother; (ii) persons living in the same household as theoffender or who had lived with the offenderwithin a period of one year preceding theoffence; (iii) persons whose marriage has been dissolved ordeclared null; (iv) parents and their children; (v) other adults sharing the same household; (vi) persons who are, or have been, formally orinformally engaged with a view to get married; (vii) persons who are related to each other either byconsanguinity or affinity up to the third degreeinclusively; (viii) persons having or having had a child incommon; (ix) the child conceived but yet unborn of any one of the persons mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (viii).
Legal Source:Domestic Violence Act,Chapter 481
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal Code, Article 412c
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MaltaViolence, JusticeRape
Whosoever shall, by violence, have carnal knowledge of a person of either sex, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from three to nine years, with or without solitary confinement.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Article 198
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal Code, Article 412C
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MaltaViolence, JusticeSexual Assault (excl. rape)
Whosoever shall be guilty of any violent indecent assault which does not, in itself, constitute any of the crimes, either completed or attempted, referred to in the preceding articles of this subtitle, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from three months to one year.
ObservationsSpecial circumstance: in the cases referred to in article 202, the punishment shall be increased by one degree.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Section 207
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal Code, Section 412C
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MaltaViolence, JusticeSexual Harassment
Chapter 456
- (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 29 of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, it shall be unlawful forany person to sexually harass other persons, that is to say: (a) to subject other persons to an act of physical intimacy;or (b) to request sexual favours from other persons; or (c) to subject other persons to any act or conduct withsexual connotations, including spoken words, gesturesor the production, display or circulation of any writtenwords, pictures or other material, where the act, wordsor conduct is unwelcome to the persons to whom theyare directed and could reasonably be regarded as offensive, humiliating or intimidating to the persons to whom they are directed; or (d) the persons so subjected or requested are treated less favourably by reason of such persons’ rejection of or submission to such subjection or request, it could reasonably be anticipated that such persons would be so treated.
- (2) (a) Persons responsible for any work place, educational establishment or entity providing vocational training or guidance or for any establishment at which goods,services or accommodation facilities are offered to the public, shall not permit other persons who have a right to be present in, or to avail themselves of any facility, goods or service provided at that place, to suffer sexual harassment at that place. (b) It shall be a defence for persons responsible as aforesaid to prove that they took such steps as are reasonably practicable to prevent such sexual harassment.
- (3) Persons who sexually harass other persons shall be guilty of an offence against this article and shall, without prejudice to anygreater liability under any other law, be liable on conviction to a fine (multa) of not more than two thousand and three hundred andtwenty-nine euro and thirty-seven cents (2,329.37) or to imprisonment of not more than six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Chapter 452, Article 29.
- (1) It shall not be lawful for an employer or an employee to harass another employee or to harass the employer by subjecting such person to any unwelcome act, request or conduct, includingspoken words, gestures or the production, display or circulation ofwritten words, pictures or other material, which in respect of thatperson is based on sexual discrimination and which couldreasonably be regarded as offensive, humiliating or intimidating tosuch person.
- (2) It shall not be lawful for an employer or an employee tosexually harass another employee or the employer (hereinafter inthis article referred to as "the victim") by: (a) subjecting the victim to an act of physical intimacy; or (b) requesting sexual favours from the victim; or (c) subjecting the victim to any act or conduct with sexualconnotations, including spoken words, gestures or theproduction, display or circulation of written words,pictures or other material where -(i) the act, request or conduct is unwelcome to thevictim and could reasonably be regarded asoffensive, humiliating or intimidating to thevictim; (ii) the victim is treated differently, or it could reasonably be anticipated that the victim couldbe so treated, by reason of the victim’s rejection of or submission to the act, request or conduct.
Chapter 9251A
- (1) A person who pursues a course of conduct: (a) which amounts to harassment of another person, and(b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of such other person, shall be guilty of an offence under this article.
Legal Source:Chapter 456 of the Laws of Malta - Equality for Men and Women Act Article 9 sub-section 1Chapter 452 – Employment and Industrial Relations Act – Article 29 (relation between the employer and employee re harassment) Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta: Criminal Code Subtitle IX: Of Threats, Private Violence and Harassment Section 249-251 d
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal Code, Article 412C
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MaltaViolence, JusticeStalking
In Malta, the term stalking is not specifically defined, however it is covered by the Criminal Code.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Section 249-251d
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal Code, Article 412c
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NetherlandsGeneral legal definitionViolence, JusticeLegal provisions on protection orders:
The court can impose a “no contact order‟ (contactverbod) which entails that the offender is no longer allowed to contact the victim (not in person, in writing, by telephone, by e-mail, or any other form of communication). Another option, which can simultaneously be imposed, is the “street restraining order‟ (straat-en/of gebiedsverbod). After the imposition of this order, the offender is no longer allowed to enter the street where the victim lives, or to be present in a certain area. Often, the orders are designed so as to grant maximum safety to the victim during her daily activities, while keeping the restraints on the offender’s freedom of movement to a minimum. [57: University of Tilburg et al. Feasibility study national legislation on gender violence and violence against children – Report on the Netherlands, 25 May 2010, p.17.]A hospital order is a unique Dutch provision in criminal law where the psychologically or psychiatrically disturbed violent and/or sex offender, who is diagnosed to have a high risk of recidivism, is detained under an intensive forensic-psychiatric treatment regime. The length of that type of detention is never pre-defined but depends on whether the perpetrator is considered to be have healed.
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NetherlandsViolence, JusticeIntimate Partner Violence
Violence committed by someone from the domestic or family circle of the victim (definition used by the government).
ObservationsIn this regard “domestic and family circle” means partners, ex-partners, family members, and domestic friends.
In the Netherlands, domestic violence includes intimate partner violence. This violence can take on many forms: physical, sexual and/or psychological. Practically, domestic violence is understood to include abuse of (ex-) partners, children, parents and elderly people; honour-related violence, forced marriage and genital mutilation are also included.
Domestic Violence is not a separate offense under Dutch law, but can be prosecuted under other serious (sexual) offenses and might have an augmenting effect on the penalty. For example the sentence for the offense abuse can be augmented with one-third if the offender commits the abuse against a family member (i.e. his father, mother, husband/wife, partner or child) [article 242, 243, 246, 255, 257, 282, 284, 285, 285b, 287, 289, 300-304 and 350 of the Criminal code.] [60: This does not apply for the offenses of rape, sexual assault and stalking though.] [61: Abuse, Mishandeling criminalised under article 300-303 Wetboek van Strafrecht (criminal code).]
Legal Source:Ministry of Justice definition 2002 and Criminal Code, Article 304
Legal provisions on protection orders:Administrative Law: Temporary Restraining Order (huisverbod), Wet Tijdelijk Huisverbod 2008.
Civil Law: Civil law restraining orders come in three types: a restraining order that prohibits 1) entering a designated area or street (street restraining order), 2) a house (no-entrance order) or 3) any contact with the applicant in whichever way (no-contact order). Victims need to initiate civil interlocutory proceedings to apply for either one.
Criminal Law: A criminal protection order can be imposed 1) as a condition to suspend pre-trail arrest, 2) as a condition to suspend prosecution, or 3) as a condition to a suspended sentence.
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NetherlandsViolence, JusticeRape
He who, by force or another factuality, or by threat of violence or another factuality, compels someone to be subjected to actions consisting of or also consisting of the sexual penetration of the body, will be charged with rape and punished with imprisonment of maximum 12 years or a penalty of the fifth category.
ObservationsRape of a minor under 12 years old and rape of a minor over 12 years old are separately criminalised.
Legal Source:Criminal Code, Article 242
Legal provisions on protection orders:Criminal and civil restraining order