When 1 in 3 women experience physical and/or sexual violence in the EU but only 1 in 5 contact a healthcare service or social service provider following the incident, we need to take a closer and more critical look at how we can better protect and empower victims of gender-based and domestic violence. On 25 March EIGE Director Carlien Scheele spoke in European Parliament on what needs to be done.
Dear colleagues and distinguished guests,
Thank you for organising this important event. I am grateful to be among powerful actors who use their expertise and energy to tackle gender-based and domestic violence.
And with the EU’s Roadmap for women’s rights in place, where freedom from gender-based violence comes up front, our commitments will only be reinforced.
Let me start by setting off some alarms.
Ones you have no doubt heard before time and time again.
But ones which need to sound even louder.
1 in 3 women in the EU experience physical and/or sexual violence.
1 in 5 women who experienced violence contact a healthcare service or social service provider following the incident.
1 in 8 women report experiences of violence to the police.
As you may have noticed, the data I listed is in such a stark descending order. Which, frankly, is out of order and needs urgent attention.
Just last month, my Agency published the ‘Gender Equality Index Thematic Focus on Tackling Violence Against Women and Tackling Gender Inequalities’.
In this report we unpack the extent of violence against women in the EU – the different forms – the societal attitudes that correlate to the prevalence of violence against women and the legal frameworks in place to tackle violence against women – and here, we have a dedicated section on the state of specialised support services.
Support services play a critical role in protecting victims of violence from experiencing further violence, as well as giving them the opportunity to rebuild their lives.
As you know, support services run the gamut of specialisms – from national helplines to women’s centres to women’s shelters.
While we know all Member States provide specialised support services, national realities vary greatly in the provision of services and compliance with the standards set by the Istanbul Convention.
Here’s another alarm:
There is only one shelter bed available per roughly 16,000 people1 across the EU according to WAVE Data in 2022.
Based on that, the EU is below the recommendations set by the Istanbul Convention. The minimum standard by the Council of Europe is one shelter bed per 10,000 people.
There are Member States who do meet the minimum standard, namely: Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Sweden.
But other Member States fail to measure up on providing shelter beds.
It is estimated that at EU level, 39% of shelter beds are missing according to WAVE Data.
We have to remember that a bed in a shelter is not just a bed in a shelter for a victim of violence. It can be the entry point for restoring their physical, mental and economic well-being.
It will come as no surprise to you that the cost-of-living crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic added to long-standing systemic challenges, impacting the effectiveness and accessibility of specialised support services.
- Overwhelming demands for services already under pressure…
- Inflation rates rising dramatically...
- Resource shortages…
- Cuts to funding...
- Open pushback to women’s rights and gender equality…
- And the de-prioritisation of gender-based violence in national political agendas.
All these coalescing factors lead to unsettling fluctuations in support services.
For victims of violence, who face all kinds of uncertainty, we need to give them hope for the future.
Which is why strengthening support for victims is an imperative. They are not just a safety net—they can be a lifeline. From a life-threatening situation to a new beginning.
Another dimension we need to talk about are damaging societal attitudes towards violence against women.
In our report we conducted a correlation analysis between the Commission’s Eurobarometer on gender stereotypes and the levels of violence against women and gender equality.
Reassuringly, we see a negative correlation: where there are high levels of gender equality, there are low tolerances for violence against women.
But there are shocking outliers.
For example, the questions: ‘To what extent do you agree with the statement that if women share their opinion on social media, they should accept that they elicit sexist, demeaning and/or abusive replies’
And ‘what do you think about a man controlling his wife’s or partner’s finances?’ revealed a high level of acceptability and internalized normalcy of violence against women which could explain why victims fear speaking up and seeking support.
What’s also troubling is that these tolerances are held by young men– between the ages of 18 and 24. Which means our work to reverse these damaging ideas is truly cut out for us.
From here, I’ll share what my Agency’s evidence says we need to do to truly protect and empower victims of gender-based and domestic violence:
We need the provision of specialised support services for victims, regardless of formal complaint.
We need the establishment of accessible rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres.
And we need targeted support for victims with intersectional needs and groups at risk.
Legislation must align with the specific needs of victims of gender-based and domestic violence – who are often vulnerable to intimidation, secondary and repeat victimisation.
We are fortunate enough to have seen such a range of comprehensive Directives adopted during the previous mandate to ensure victim’s rights and protection. The Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, the Directive on Anti-trafficking give us a solid base. But there are significant gaps in meeting victims’ specific needs – gaps which could ultimately cost a victim’s life.
Recently, my Agency joined forces with Eurojust in a project on the European Protection Order to advance and improve cross-border protection for women.
This is one of the key legal instruments to empower victims of gender-based and domestic violence.
It acts as an instrument for mutual recognition of national protection measures between different EU Member states, allowing victims to relocate, without losing their protection from aggressors, thus contributing to victims' full access and enjoyment of rights to move freely.
The project revealed the untapped potential of this measure and EIGE is now working to raise awareness of this instrument among practitioners from judiciary, support services and the victims themselves.
We are also advocating for robust data collection and reporting – and thankfully, the Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence has recognized this as a matter of urgent priority.
Because right now, what we have in terms of available and comparable data reveals only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more that needs to be understood about the extent of gender-based and domestic violence.
We need every piece of the puzzle: official statistics, administrative data collection and disclosed violence as reported in surveys.
Under the Directive, my Agency is tasked to collect more extensive data on criminal offences and victims as well as on the availability of specialist support services including shelters and helplines.
Data is our entry point into better understanding gender-based and domestic violence: data can give us insight into why victims may not engage with the police or justice systems. It can also highlight unreported cases, barriers to seeking formal justice, and the critical role of support networks.
Member State institutions need to take greater accountability for empowering women to get legal protection and support and for making perpetrators accountable – our administrative data collection shows that only 9 Member States can provide justice data on the perpetrators.
Accountability is how we are going to challenge societal norms that tolerate violence.
Dear colleagues,
I will bring this to a close by sounding the alarm once more:
1 in 3 women in the EU experience physical and/or sexual violence.
1 in 5 women who experienced violence contact a healthcare service or social service provider following the incident.
1 in 8 women report experiences of violence to the police.
This data is enough to tell us that something must be done urgently. This is a crisis and the time to tackle it is now.
Thank you.
1Based on official population data captured by the census.
