On 6 June 2025 EIGE Director Carlien Scheele speaks at the 18th Meeting of the Committee of the Parties in the Council of Europe, sharing key results from the EU GBV survey and EIGE’s 2024 Thematic Focus on Tackling Violence Against Women and Tackling Gender Inequalities.
Good afternoon members of the committee,
Thank you for this opportunity to present, what I believe, to be among the most important data related to gender equality.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.
While we know anybody can be a victim of GBV, we also know that women are overwhelmingly the victims.
My Agency – the European Institute for Gender Equality – prides itself on being a strong ally to the Council of Europe and its members.
We share the belief that there cannot be gender equality until women and girls are safe – whether that is at home, at work or out in public.
And that is why the data I’m sharing today – from both the EU GBV survey and my Agency’s most recent Thematic Focus on Tackling Violence Against Women and Tackling Gender Inequalities, is a matter of our urgent attention and action.
So, why do we need surveys on violence against women?
Because they give us essential data to better understand the scale and prevalence of gender-based violence.
These surveys tell us:
- How many women experience different types of violence
- Who is most at risk
- What barriers exist when seeking help
- And how services respond when women do ask for support
By speaking directly to women about their experiences, we gain a clearer picture, one that helps us build safer societies and stronger responses to end violence against women.
The journey for this specific survey began over 10 years ago, with discussions in the Working Group on Crime Statistics.
By 2019, a dedicated task force was established.
After years of testing and refinement including adjusting for COVID-19 realities, the data collection began in 2020 across 18 Member States, with an additional 8 covered later.
The first insights from 7 countries were shared in 2023.
And what I am presenting today represents the preliminary headline results which were released in November last year.
As the largest EU-wide survey, we now have harmonised, official statistics on gender-based violence in the EU.
This is a landmark in our capacity to monitor progress and inform better and more responsive policies.
Let me now say a few words about the methodology.
The EU-GBV survey adheres to the Methodological Manual developed by Eurostat in 2021. It was implemented by national statistical institutes, ensuring rigorous standards and ethical considerations, especially when engaging with survivors of violence.
Over 114,000 women aged 18–74 participated in the survey.
In some countries, men were also included.
The methods varied: from face-to-face interviews, telephone, and online questionnaires – it dependent on the national circumstances due to COVID-19 adaptations.
This is a robust and representative dataset. We get the prevalence, patterns, perpetrators, and the consequences of violence across the entire EU.
The survey covers the following:
- Physical, sexual, and psychological violence
- Sexual harassment in the workplace and stalking
- Childhood experiences of violence
- Awareness and use of support services
- Reporting behaviours
- The impact and consequences of violence on women.
Crucially, it distinguishes between intimate partner, domestic, and non-partner violence.
It allows us to understand who is affected, in what context, and with what consequences.
This level of granular detail gives decision-makers and service providers essential ground to respond with targeted, evidence-based strategies and interventions.
As I reveal the main findings, it’s important to note that while we cannot make a direct comparison with FRA’s 2014 report and this survey due to changes in the wording of the questions and the descriptions of the specific violent acts, we can lay claim to the fact that the outcomes are equally shocking.
We have learnt that violence against women remains widespread across the EU.
It permeates every sphere of a woman’s life – at home, at work and in public spaces.
Over the last 10 years we have seen significant changes in policy and advocacy – we have the historic Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, and the Istanbul Convention – the international ‘gold’ standard for tackling violence against women.
With comprehensive legal and policy frameworks, we stand a chance at not only ending GBV but accelerating progress towards gender equality.
But still, one in three women (30.7%) in the EU has experienced physical or sexual violence by any perpetrator in their lifetime.
Notably, sexual violence is now disclosed more often than physical violence.
Roughly 1 in 6 women, have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. This highlights the urgent need to address sexual violence specifically, including through criminal justice reforms and victim support.
Perhaps the most sobering insight is the prevalence of intimate partner violence.
31.8% of women have experienced violence at the hands of a partner.
Psychological violence is the most prevalent, affecting nearly 30% of women. And for 14.6% of those who reported physical or sexual violence, the abuse was repeated
This reaffirms what we have long known: violence is most often committed by someone the victim knows and trusts. The private sphere remains the most dangerous space for too many women.
When we look at specific types of intimate partner violence, the statistics deepen. For example, there is a common misconception that stalking is mostly or only perpetrated by strangers.
We find that stalking, threats, and sustained psychological manipulation are common, with 5.1% of women having been stalked by an intimate partner – a behaviour often associated with escalating violence or femicide risk.
These data highlight the need for early intervention mechanisms and for support services that can identify risk signs before violence escalates.
Violence at home - whether by a partner, relative, or someone else living with them - affects close to 20% of women in the EU.
You see that it varies considerably across countries: from 9.5% in some Member States to 43.8% in others.
Such variation underlines how different legal frameworks, support services, cultural norms, and awareness levels shape the disclosure - and reporting - of violence. It also highlights the need for Member States to share and implement best practices.
Public violence also remains a serious concern.
3.8% of women have been raped by someone other than a partner.
This reinforces that no space - public or private - is free from gender-based violence. Public safety strategies must therefore be responsive to gender-specific risks, including at night, in transit, or online.
The workplace is also not safe for many women.
Nearly one in three - have experienced sexual harassment at work. The most frequent perpetrators are male colleagues. And for 18.4%, harassment was repeated.
Younger women - aged 18 to 29 - face the highest levels of workplace harassment (41.6%), reflecting abusive power imbalances and jobs fraught with insecurity.
Despite the #MeToo and other movements, harassment in the workplace remains deeply entrenched, hidden in plain sight and often, underreported and therefore unpunished.
One of the most striking findings is how invisible this violence remains – particularly among authorities. I am sure we all know anecdotal cases, but tragically, these cases don’t get counted!
While 68.2% of women tell someone about the violence they experience, only 26.7% report it to formal services - health, social, or police.
Worse still, 31.8% never tell anyone at all.
Although 74.3% of victims are aware of support services, very few turn to them. Legal aid awareness is even lower, with just 32% of women knowing it is available.
This is a quite an indictment on our systems.
Reporting and support must be victim-centred, gender-responsive and trauma-informed, free from judgment, and available in all EU languages. Victims should never have to question whether they will be believed or not.
Awareness of violence is increasing, but without safe and trusted spaces, women remain silent, and perpetrators remain unaccountable and can continue to do harm.
Now, where we do we go from here? – arguably the most important question.
We have the data – how do we make the most it?
It’s important to understand that these results should not be interpreted as providing the complete picture of women’s experience of violence in the EU Member States.
We need a more nuanced analysis. We have to consider the correlation of violence and other contextual factors.
Later in the year, FRA and EIGE with the support of Eurostat will release the final report which goes into depth on the trends, which I look forward to sharing with you in detail when the time comes.
Now, I want to turn to my Agency’s Gender Equality Index 2024 thematic focus on tackling violence against women and tackling gender inequalities.
The reason I feel it’s important to highlight is because gender-based violence starts from the ideas and beliefs we have about women and men and it’s a key part of our report.
Among sharing the different forms of Violence Against Women (VAW) the legal and policy frameworks to tackle it, we dive into a very interesting and quite telling analysis between public attitudes and the prevalence of VAW.
The report made correlation between the European Commission’s flash Eurobarometer on gender stereotypes which surveyed public attitudes and the different levels of VAW and levels of gender equality.
And the general trend we saw is that Member States that have high levels of gender equality, have low tolerances for VAW.
While, reassuringly most respondents reject physical and sexual violence, significant portions of the population still exhibit the acceptance of violent behaviours.
This is especially the case for forms of violence that are not necessarily well known, for example:
Online violence like gender-based hate speech.
It is an expectation that when women use their voice, they should see the abuse coming.
Like it’s something they must tolerate as a tax on speaking up.
Over on the right you see a tolerance for economic violence. It’s this idea that it’s acceptable for a male partner to ‘supervise’ how their female partner spends money…
You see that 46% of men and 26% of women in the EU agree that a man controlling his wife or partner’s finances can be acceptable.
Interestingly, when we disaggregated this one further, we saw that the age group of men who accept this the most, are young men between the ages of 18-24.
Furthermore, victim-blaming attitudes are still prevalent, especially among men under the age of 45.
This could be an indication of the emerging ideological divide between women and men in younger generations. We see this in terms of values, lifestyle and political stances – which extends to the issue of violence against women.
One of the culprits for this growing gender divide is the overwhelming degree to which young men relate to the ultra-masculine lifestyle that is widely amplified on social media.
As I am sure you know, social media is a powerful tool for influencing the way young people think and behave.
Gender stereotypes, gender bias, roles and expectations are becoming a troubling norm – reinforced by problematic content which glorifies dominance, ridicules vulnerability and promotes misogyny.
But I don’t want to end on a note of doom and gloom.
As I mentioned earlier, we have come many strides forward in addressing gender-based violence through robust legislation and political milestones.
The EU Road Map for Women’s Rights for example makes a strong statement for not only protecting but building on the hard-fought gains for gender equality.
Now it’s up to the post 2025 Gender Equality Strategy to follow through with concrete measures to steer the EU.
Including coordinated prevention efforts to end gender-based violence.
Including strengthened support services for victims, and binding commitments from Member States to fully implement the Directive on Combating violence against women and domestic violence.
The safety, dignity, and rights of women and girls is not optional. It’s non-negotiable.
From here, I want to thank you for working with us to achieve this important goal. I look forward to your questions.
