Gender-based violence (GBV) is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.

GBV is any type of violence based on someone’s gender from physical to emotional to financial to reproductive violence. While anybody can be a victim of GBV, women are overwhelmingly the victims.

Violence against women continues to be one of the most severe human rights violations within societies. It is deeply rooted in systemic power imbalances between women and men.

EIGE works towards the provision of evidence on GBV that can support the EU and Member States (and beyond) in their efforts to eradicate all forms of violence.

At the EU and Member States level, we support policy makers in designing and shaping policies and measures to combat GBV.

What forms does gender-based violence take?

Issues in focus

Costs of gender-based violence in the European Union

Gender-based violence is one of the most severe forms of gender inequality. This issue affects women disproportionally as it is directly connected to the unequal distribution of power between women and men. The elimination of gender-based violence and the protection of victims is a goal of the European Union and one of the most important areas of work for the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

Topics
  • Economic and financial affairs
  • Violence
Costs of gender-based violence

Cyber violence against women

The increasing reach of the internet, the rapid spread of mobile information, and the widespread use of social media, has led to the emergence of cyber violence against women and girls (VAWG) as a growing global problem with potentially significant economic and societal consequences. Go to our 2022 report Combating Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls Research by the World Health Organization shows that one in three women will have experienced a form of violence in her lifetime, and despite the relatively new and growing phenomenon of internet connectivity, it is estimated that one in ten women have already experienced a form of cyber violence since the age of 15.

Topics
  • Digital agenda
  • Violence
Cyberviolence

Female genital mutilation

EIGE plays a leading role in providing information and research on prevalence of female genital mutilation in the European Union and supports Member States to prevent and combat this harmful practice. EIGE has carried out four main studies on the subject: The first study Female genital mutilation in the European Union (2012) mapped out the situation of female genital mutilation in the EU.

Topics
  • Economic and financial affairs
  • Violence
FGM

Femicide

Femicide is the most severe manifestation of gender-based violence. It is deeply rooted in and a manifestation of power imbalances in society, which promotes an unequal status for men and women. Femicide is broadly defined as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, and can take different forms, such as the murder of women as a result of intimate partner violence;

Femicide

Intimate partner violence and witness intervention

The EU has long recognised that violence against women is a violation of human rights and a form of gender-based discrimination that has a major negative impact on victims and significant costs for society. Women are most likely to face violence at the hands of someone they know, with one in five having experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner.

Topics
  • Health
  • Justice
  • Violence
intimate partner violence

Risk assessment and risk management

The guide to risk assessment and risk management of intimate partner violence for the police, proposes how the police in EU Member States can approach the implementation of risk assessment processes and risk management strategies.

Section
Gender-based violence
Risk assessment and management
See all issues in focus

Why data matters and how to collect it

The need to improve data collection

EIGE plays a leading role in providing information and research on administrative data collection on violence against women across the European Union. It also helps Member States to improve their data collection in this area and meet international legal obligations. EIGE has carried out four studies on the subject : The first study (2014): Mapping the current status and potential of administrative data sources on gender-based violence in the EU The second study (2016):

Improve data admin

Advancing administrative data collection on Intimate partner violence and gender-related killings of women

This project aims to assist European Union (EU) Member States in implementing EU-wide indicators on administrative data collection on intimate partner violence, rape and femicide, which have been developed by EIGE. The project also aims to help Member States develop a classification system for femicide cases. As part of the project, EIGE analyses the current situation of data collection on intimate partner violence, rape and femicide in 30 different jurisdictions across all 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom.

data collection on intimate partner violence

Developing EU-wide terminology and indicators for data collection on violence against women

This study established a measure of violence against women through the use of indicators on rape, femicide and intimate partner violence, which will guide methods of data collection to ensure reliable and comparable data on violence against women across the 28 EU Member States. This will support Member States to regularly measure the prevalence and incidence of rape, femicide, and intimate partner violence in a harmonised way.

Mapping the current status and potential of administrative data sources on gender-based violence in the EU

The main aims of the study was to map the key administrative data sources and statistical products created from administrative data on gender-based violence in the 28 EU Member States, and also to analyse their relevance, reliability and quality. The study focused on five classifications of violence against women: intimate partner violence (all types); sexual violence (outside intimate relationship), which includes:

See all Data Collection

Get to know more

  1. Get to know the terms: EIGE's glossary
  2. What's happening in your country
  3. Actionable steps for EU member states

Featured

Publications

  • Strengthening data systems on violence against women in the Western Balkans and Türkiye

    Violence against women and girls and gender-based violence is a cause and effect of gender inequality and the power imbalance between women and men, and one of the most widespread violations of human rights. This deeply entrenched phenomenon requires a coordinated and targeted prevention and policy response based on reliable and comparable data and evidence. Over the past years, EU candidate countries and potential candidates from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo1, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) and Türkiye have strengthened their data collection on violence against women (VAW), contributing to a better understanding of patterns and trends and providing much-needed data for evidence-based policymaking.

    Topics
    • Health
    • Justice
    • Violence
    Publication date
    Available in: EN

  • Understanding intimate partner violence in the European Union: The essential need for administrative data collection

    Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common form of violence against women and the most extreme form of gender discrimination. It poses a threat to the fundamental rights to dignity, liberty, security, health and, eventually, the lives of women. EU Member States have not established a common definition for IPV, which means it is understood and measured differently across jurisdictions.

    Topics
    • Health
    • Justice
    • Violence
    Publication date
    Available in: EN