How the EU is tackling gender-based violence
Gender-based and domestic violence remain common in Europe, especially affecting women and girls. The EU has adopted rules to put an end to it.
Most EU countries have laws tackling violence against someone because of gender or sexual orientation, but the lack of common rules to address the issue helped to perpetuate the problem. That is why the European Parliament insisted on new EU legislation on this.
Although women and girls are the main victims of gender-based violence, but it can also affect men. LGBTIQ+ people are also often targeted. It has negative consequences at the individual level as well as within the family, community and at an economic level.
EU rules on combating violence against women
In April 2024 Parliament adopted the first ever EU rules on combating violence against women. The goal is to prevent gender-based violence and protect victims, especially women and victims of domestic violence. The directive calls for stronger laws against cyberviolence, better assistance for victims, steps to prevent rape and increase understanding of sexual consent.
The new rules also prohibit female genital mutilation and forced marriage and outline particular guidelines for offenses committed online. The legislation will also include a longer list of aggravating circumstances for offenses that should carry more severe penalties, such as crimes against public figures, journalists, or human rights defenders.
The rules provide that the safety and well-being of victims should be prioritised, including by offering access to sheltered accommodation. Healthcare should be made accessible, including sexual and reproductive health services.
The new rules will come into force twenty days after their publication in the EU Official Journal and EU countries have three years to implement them.
Right to abortion constitutes a fundamental right
In a resolution adopted in April 2024, MEPs urge the Council to add sexual and reproductive healthcare and the right to a safe and legal abortion to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - a demand they have made several times.
The text urges EU countries to fully decriminalise abortion in line with the 2022 guidelines of the World Health Organization. MEPs call on the European Commission to ensure that organisations working against gender equality and women’s rights, including reproductive rights, do not receive EU funding.
Partner violence in custody battles
An estimated 22% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a current or previous partner and 43% have experienced psychological violence, most of which goes unreported.
In October 2021, Parliament called for urgent measures to protect victims including in custody battles where violence is suspected. These hearings should be conducted in a child-friendly environment by trained professionals. MEPs also called for EU countries to help victims achieve financial independence, enabling them to leave abusive and violent relationships.
In April 2022, MEPs called on the Commission to propose common EU guidelines to protect the rights of the child in civil, administrative and family law proceedings. A resolution adopted on this said the hearing of a child should be conducted by a judge or a trained expert and no pressure should be brought to bear, including from the parents. MEPs also called on EU countries to adopt measures to link criminal and civil cases in order to prevent any discrepancies between judicial and other legal decisions that are harmful to children.
Sexual harassment and cyber violence
In December 2021, MEPs asked the EU to adopt a common definition of gender-based cyberviolence and to make it punishable by law, with harmonised minimum and maximum penalties for all EU countries. The call builds from a Parliament report on harassment online from 2016.
Among actions that should be punished, Parliament lists cyber harassment; cyber stalking; violations of privacy; recording and sharing images of sexual assault; remote control or surveillance (including spy apps); threats and calls to violence; sexist hate speech; induction to self-harm; unlawful access to messages or social media accounts; breach of the prohibitions of communication imposed by courts; as well as human trafficking.
Istanbul Convention
Finalising EU accession to the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence remains a political priority. All EU countries have signed up, but some have yet to ratify it. In January 2021, Parliament welcomed the Commission’s intention to propose measures to achieve the Istanbul Convention’s objectives in 2021 if some member states continue to block its ratification by the EU.
Female genital mutilation
The Parliament has adopted laws and resolutions to help eliminate female genital mutilation worldwide. Although the practice is illegal in the EU and some member states prosecute even when it is performed outside the country, it is estimated that about 600,000 women living in Europe have been subjected to female genital mutilation and a further 180,000 girls are at high risk in 13 European countries alone.
In 2019, the Restorers, a group of five students from Kenya who developed an app helping girls deal with female genital mutilation, were shortlisted for Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Women: the main victims
- One in three women in the EU has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15
- More than a half of all women has been sexually harassed
- In almost one in five cases of violence against women the perpetrator is an intimate partner
(Source: Violence against women, an EU-wide survey commissioned by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2014)
