Together, we the Heads of EU agencies and Joint undertakings commit to zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and we cannot and will not accept harassment of any form in our agencies. We take it upon ourselves to communicate to our staff that harassment in the workplace is never acceptable. We have committed ourselves in accordance with existing laws and particularly the staff regulation, to promote diversity at work and provide our staff with a trusted place in which to work.
This report lays the ground for the establishment of a measure of violence against women through the use of harmonised definitions and indicators on rape, femicide and intimate partner violence. The proposed definitions and indicators will guide methods of data collection across the 28 EU Member States in a way that ensures the reliability and comparability of data. The definitions and indicators were developed to facilitate the monitoring requirements Member States face today on violence against women, in particular under the Victims’ Rights Directive and the Istanbul Convention.
Together, we the Heads of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) agencies commit to zero tolerance towards sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the workplace. We cannot and will not accept harassment of any form in our agencies and we take it upon ourselves to communicate to our staff that harassment in the workplace is never acceptable. Equality is one of the fundamental values on which the European Union is built.
Tomorrow, on 25 November, the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. On the eve of this occasion Vilnius Town Hall and EU House, where the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is located, will be lit up in orange. This is how EIGE will place its host city on the map of the global awareness initiative “Orange the World” and calls for action to stop violence against women.
Violence against women is a much bigger problem than the statistics show. Almost one in two women (47%) who have experienced violence have never told anyone, whether that be the police, health services, a friend, neighbour or colleague. Disclosed violence is only a fraction of the reality. “Violence against women is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.
Violence against women is rooted in women’s unequal status in society, and that status reflects the unequal distribution of social, political and economic power between women and men in society. The collection of data on the prevalence of rape and intimate partner violence (IPV) is key to establishing and evaluating effective prevention measures. Detailed, accurate and comprehensive data is required to measure the magnitude and dimensions of violence against women, and to monitor changes over time.
The signing of the Istanbul Convention by Commissioner Věra Jourová on 13 June 2017 was an extremely important step in establishing the first legally binding instrument dedicated to combating violence against women. Violence against women is rooted in the unequal power relations between women and men and is one of the strongest expressions of gender inequality. “The elimination of violence against women involves challenging the unequal division of social, political, and economic power among women and men, and the ways in which this inequality is reinforced at all levels of society” says Virginija Langbakk, EIGE's Director.
The Glossary of definitions of rape, femicide and intimate partner violence has been prepared within the scope of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) "Study on terminology and indicators for data collection on rape, femicide and intimate partner violence". The Glossary provides a detailed overview of the identified European, international and national definitions of rape, femicide and IPV and presents the definitions proposed for the three forms of violence with the aim of developing comparable definitions for statistical purposes.
Violence against women is happening in all corners of the EU but we still do not know its full extent. More reliable and comparable data are urgently needed to ensure that policy responses to violence are as effective as possible. EIGE’s new project on improving administrative data takes the Institute’s previous work on the topic one step further. It aims to improve the availability, quality and comparability of data collected by police and justice services on intimate partner violence and rape.
Administrative data comprises information collected by institutions such as the police, justice system, health and social services and other agencies that come into contact with cases of violence against women (VAW). The police and the justice systems are the most advanced in the availability, quality and comparability of administrative data on violence against women. Further information EIGE's publications on gender-based violence EIGE's other resources on gender-based violence
The relevance of gender in the justice policy area should be considered in terms of the following points: access to justice is a human right and an integral aspect of the rule of law; crime is a gender-oriented phenomenon, but the justice system does not equally accommodate women’s and men’s needs; the due diligence principle holds states (and other actors in the police and justice system) responsible for taking measures to fight violence against women (VAW);
In the EU-28 there are no ongoing, systematic, representative surveys that use a harmonised approach to gather data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM). In the absence or unavailability of national FGM prevalence figures, it is possible to estimate the prevalence of FGM by collating information from administrative records. Further information Data collection on gender-based violence Good practices on administrative data on violence against women Administrative data sources on gender-based violence in the EU EIGE's studies on gender-based violence
