Every woman deserves to be safe. But one in three women still experience violence in the EU.

#SafeSpaces

Gender-based violence remains invisible to authorities

The EU gender-based violence survey shows the shocking levels of violence against women. It also shows that too much violence goes unreported. We need more prevention and protection measures because every woman deserves to be and to feel safe - everywhere.

Women in the EU experience violence in all areas of life

Five shocking findings from the biggest-ever EU gender-based violence survey which drew on responses from almost 115,000 women across the EU.

Discover the full analysis in the focus paper

  • 1 in 3 women in the EU experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

  • 1 in 8 women experienced sexual violence, including rape, by someone other than their partner.

  • 1 in 5 women face physical or sexual violence from their partner, a relative or another member of their household.

  • 1 in 3 women were sexually harassed at work.

    2 in 5 young women experience sexual harassment at their workplace.

  • Just over 1 in 8 women who experienced violence reported the incident to the police.

    1 in 5 contacted a doctor or social services, and slightly more than 1 in 20 a helpline or victim support service.

Download the visuals

Mapping violence against women

Explore our interactive heatmaps to see how the prevalence of various forms of violence varies among the EU Member States.

Member State Percentage of WOMEN WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL VIOLENCE OR THREATS AND/OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE BY ANY PERPETRATOR IN THEIR LIFETIME
Belgium 29.1
Bulgaria 11.9
Czechia 19.7
Denmark 47.5
Germany 25.6
Estonia 33.1
Ireland 40.7
Greece 36.5
Spain 28.2
France 34.5
Croatia 25.3
Italy 31.7
Cyprus 36.1
Latvia 25.1
Lithuania 25.2
Luxembourg 45.4
Hungary 49.1
Malta 24.4
Netherlands 41.2
Austria 35.7
Poland 16.7
Portugal 19.7
Romania 42.2
Slovenia 22.5
Slovakia 37.9
Finland 57.1
Sweden 52.5
EU-27 30.7