Concluding remarks

AuthorEuropean Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU body or agency)
Pages111-113
111
Concluding remarks
The results of this survey powerfully indicate the extent to which people in
the EU are exposed to physical violence. Overall, 6% of people in the EU
experience physical violence in ayear, some 22million people (an estimate
based on the results of the survey relative to the EU’s population). The f‌indings
also document the pervasive impact of physical violence through the victims’
injuries and psychological consequences. Furthermore, most experiences
of violence are not reported to the police, the results show. Some incidents
that are not reported to the police come to the attention of other authorities
and services, when victims either report the incidents or seek assistance on
issues linked to experiencing violence, such as medical treatment for injuries.
The contact that police and other authorities and services have with victims
of violence should be seen as opportunities to inform victims of their rights
and other measures put in place to help them to seek redress and overcome
the incident and its consequences.
These survey results– based on interviews carried out in 2019– form
abaseline for experiences of crime and feelings of safety with respect
to anumber EU strategies adopted in 2020, including the EU Strategy on
Victims’ Rights 2020-2025, European Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025,
EU LGBTIQ equality strategy 2020-2025, as well as the measures that will
be adopted as afollow-up to the European disability strategy 2010-2020.
The results also provide abackdrop for data on the experiences of specif‌ic
population groups and allow for an analysis of differences in outcomes in
crime victimisation and safety, contributing in this way to the evidence base
relevant for the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025 and the EU Roma
strategic framework 2020-2030.
The survey results presented in this report on crime victimisation and safety
can contribute to the implementation of these and other policies– and the
changes they seek to implement and accelerate– in anumber of ways.
These include identifying good practices through acomparison of results at
the country level; identifying groups at risk of being left behind or at risk of
not having their voices heard due to concern for crime and safety restricting
their participation in society; and supporting efforts to raise awareness of
people’s rights as crime victims and their responsibilities as witnesses.
Before this survey no comparable data measured the extent and nature of
experiences of physical violence in the EU, although it constitutes aclear
violation of the fundamental rights to human dignity and the integrity of
the person, as Articles2 and 3 of the Charter set out. Previously, the most
comprehensive data set concerning experiences of violence came from FRA’s
survey on violence against women. However, that survey did not collect data
on men’s experiences of violence. The data collected in the present survey
also help identify who in the population is more likely to experience physical
violence. Young people, persons with limitations in their usual activities
(due to ahealth problem or disability), ethnic minorities, and people who
are lesbian, gay or bisexual, or identify in another way, experience physical
violence at higher rates and therefore require particular attention in efforts
to ensure people’s personal safety.
In addition to differences between groups in society at the EU level, the
survey results point to notable differences in victimisation rates between

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