Answer given by Ms Jourová on behalf of the European Commission
30.7.2018
Combating violence has been an important priority for the Commission for several years. From 2004-2008, EUR 50 million were allocated to this objective to support projects in this field.
Combatting violence was reinforced with the Daphne III programme (2007‐2013) by financing projects for an amount of EUR116.85 million in order to support specific actions and the activities of non-governmental organisations or other organisations pursuing the objective of providing citizens with a high level of protection from violence. For further details, the Honourable Member is invited to consult figure 1 in the annex.
The ‘Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme’ (REC, 2014-2020) replaced Daphne III. The programme has a specific objective to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk, in particular groups at risk of violence in close relationships, and to protect victims of such violence. The Honourable Member will find further details in Table 2 in the annex.
The Commission opposes all forms of violence and supports all victims, for example, through the Victims' Rights Directive[1] and through funding of Non-Governmental Organisations and Member State projects. The Commission recognises that men and boys can also experience gender-based violence (GBV). In addition, men play an important role in the prevention of GBV as ‘agents of change’. In the REC Programme, the priorities of the calls for proposals[2] do not exclude men and boys.
However, the vast majority of victims of GBV are women and girls. According to the Fundamental Rights Agency’s EU-wide survey on violence against women[3], 1 in 3 women in Europe have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. This is why the Commission focuses on women and girls as victims of GBV.
See annex : Annex
- [1] Directive 2012/29 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime.
- [2] http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/rec/topics/rec-rdap-gbv-ag-2018.html (Deadline 13 November 2018)
- [3] http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-women-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report