Introduction

• Pages: 8-18

Introduction

European Inst itute for Gender Equalit y

8

Introduction

(1) https://eige.europa.eu/gender-based-violence/what-is-gender-based-violence

(2)

https://eige.europa.eu/publications/terminology-and-indicators-data-collection-rape-femicide -and-intimate-partner-violence-report

(3) https://eige.europa.eu/publications/indicators-intimate-partner-violence-and-rape-police-and-justice-sectors

(4) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/T XT/?uri=CELEX:32012L0029

(5) https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul -convention/home?

The Gender Statistics Database (GSD) of the

European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

contains a wide range of statistics from across

the European Union and beyond. The database

brings together sex-disaggregated statistics

or statistics with a gender dimension that are

collected by EIGE and other institutions. T hese

statistics cover all areas of life. As such, the GSD

aims to provide a central access point for any-

one interested in data with a gender dimension.

One of the areas of focus in the GSD is gen-

der-based violence, i.e. violence directed against

a person because of their gender (1). While both

women and men can be victims, mos t victims

are women and girls. Gender-based violence is

rooted in gender inequality and is a violation of

the victim’s human rights.

The most widespread form of gender-based vio-

lence is intimate partner violence, i.e. violence

that occurs between former or current spouses

or partners. Comparable data on intimate par t-

ner violence are of paramount importance in

understanding and monitoring the nature and

scale of the issue, itself a barrier to achieving

gender equality. However, availability of compa-

rable data across the EU remains lacking.

In order to address the lack of availability of

comparable data, EIGE researched terminology

and indicators on rape, femicide and intimate

partner violence as part of a study published

in 2017 (2), and followed up with the develop-

ment of 13 indicators with uniform denitions of

the multiple forms of intimate partner violence,

femicide and rape in 2018 (3). These indicators

are intended for statistical purposes, to sup-

port Member States to collect data on violence

against women and meet international require-

ments. The denitions of these indicators are

in line with the data provision requirements of

the Victims’ Right s Directive (4) and the Istan-

bul Convention (5). The Victims’ Rights Directive

establishes minimum standards on the rights

of victims of crime and the protection and sup -

port they should receive. The Council of Europe

Convention on preventing and combating vio-

lence against women and domestic violence

(the Istanbul Convention) aims to prevent gen-

der-based and domestic violence, protect vic-

tims and prosecute oenders.

The indicators collect administrati ve data from

national police and justice sectors. These are the

most relevant sources of administrative data, as

they are collected by the national institutions

responsible for protecting victims, preventing

violence and prosecuting perpetrators. The indi-

cators reect the dierent stages of the law

enforcement process, from recording an inci-

dent (police) to penalising the oender (justice).

EIGE has collected data from national police

and justice sectors against these 13 indicators.

This document presents the methodology for

that data collection against the 13 indicators on

intimate partner violence, and provides infor-

mation on the coverage (jurisdictions, oences

and s tatistical units), denitions applied and

methods of collection in each case. It star ts with

general denitions and then present s detailed

information for each of the 13 indicators.

Coverage

Data were collected for all 28 EU Member States,

covering 30 jurisdictions. As the UK devolved

administrations (England and Wales, Northern

Ireland, Scotland) are the lawful authorities in

the policy area of law and order, data for the