Since the onset of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine on 22 February 2022, human rights violations and violence have become the new harrowing reality of Ukraine, with growing evidence of mass atrocities and crimes of sexual violence and torture committed against civilians in the territories occupied by Russia’s armed forces. Over 8 million persons – mostly women and children...
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has developed 13 indicators on intimate partner violence (IPV) to guide the data collection efforts of the police and justice sectors. The indicators developed by EIGE help to assess the progress made at the national level to reduce IPV and domestic violence, and enhance the comparability of data in alignment with the minimum...
Economic violence is a common form of violence against women statistically defined as ‘any act or behaviour which causes economic harm to an individual’. Economic violence is rooted in gender inequality and reinforced by traditional gender norms.
Psychological violence is a common form of gender-based violence that includes any intentional course of conduct that seriously impairs another person’s psychological integrity through coercion or threats.
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...
Femicide is an extreme form of gender-based violence, defined broadly as ‘the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender’. EU and international institutions use various terms to refer to femicide, including ‘gender-related killing of women’ and ‘feminicide’. In 2020, 47 000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members. In 2019...
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...
Rape is an unlawful sexual act and a harmful form of sexual violence that disproportionately affects women and girls. Rape occurs in the absence of consent, the voluntary agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. EIGE recognises the need for systematic data collection on the prevalence and frequency of rape in the EU, the effects of sexual violence on...
Femicide, commonly understood as the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, is the most extreme form of gender-based violence, deeply rooted in the inequalities between men and women in society. It is estimated that, globally, around 47 000 women and girls were killed by their intimate partners or other family members in 2020, and around 2...
Femicide continues to be widespread around the globe. In 2020 the global estimation of femicide shows that 47 000 women were killed by intimate partners or other family members worldwide and around 2 600 in Europe. However, the number of victims is in fact much higher. Orphaned children, bereaved parents and siblings of murdered women are rarely considered as direct...
Digital platforms have often been celebrated for allowing equal opportunities for public self-expression, regardless of one’s identity and status. Yet, not everyone is welcome in the cyberspace. The digital arena has become a breeding ground for a range of exclusionary and violent discourses and beliefs, expressed and disseminated in a context of anonymity and impunity. Both women and men can...
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a severe form of gender-based violence, that violates the human rights of women and girls. The practice entails “all procedures that involve the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons". Globally, over 200 million women and girls in 31 countries have been...
