Gender-based violence is deeply rooted in structural, political, economic and social inequalities. As a result, women are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, which continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations. Violence against women encompasses all acts of gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, psychological, financial, sexual or reproductive harm, including...
Violence against women – as shown by the results of the European Union gender-based violence (EU-GBV) survey conducted by Eurostat, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) – is widespread and takes many forms. The results presented in this report represent the experiences of women in the 27 Member States with...
The Communications Lab (Comms Lab) is EIGE’s approach to advancing gender equality through effective communication. The Lab helps us to respond to a rapidly evolving communication landscape — one marked by both progress and backlash, including anti-gender disinformation. Between 2023 and 2025, the Comms Lab tackled one of the most urgent challenges in gender equality: how to communicate effectively about...
The latest edition of the Gender Equality Index, the 2024 edition, highlights the fact that the EU is battling a host of emerging challenges, from increasing effects of climate change and extreme weather events to high geopolitical tensions, rapid digitalisation, volatile political situations and growing political extremism across the region. While such phenomena claim the attention of decision-makers, they not...
Cyber violence against women and girls (CVAWG) is a dimension of violence committed against women and girls that is enabled by the increased use of digital technologies and amplified by the exponential growth of user online presence. Risks for women and girls online are further increased by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality. Research reveals...
Ursula von der Leyen made a ‘union of equality’, based on the principle of equality for all and equality in all its senses, a cornerstone of her mandate. Binding measures since 2019 have made significant strides in supporting the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work, gender-balanced company boards, work–life balance, binding standards for equality bodies and combating violence...
Digital platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, X and Reddit are forums for public and private expression and social interaction, and they provide many other useful services. However, the online space is not always welcoming to everyone. In an environment of pseudo-anonymity and limited accountability, pervasive exclusionary and harmful narratives are often unleashed. Spreading virally, these practices are categorised as cyber...
This report presents, for the first time, selected key results of the EU gender-based violence survey based on data from all 27 Member States. Across the EU-27, 114 023 women were interviewed about their experiences. The report focuses on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women in the EU. The EU gender-based violence survey also collected specific data...
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...
