Introduction

• Author: European Institute for Gender Equality (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 11-12

Introduction

11

Risk assessment and management of intimate partner violence in the EU

Introduction

(23) See Johnson, M. P., (1995), Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: two forms of violence against women, Journal of Marriage and the Family,

Vol. 57, pp. 283-294; Johnson M. P. and Ferraro, K. J., (2000), Research on domestic violence in the 1990s: making distinctions, Journal of Marriage and the

Family, Vol. 62, pp. 948-963. Johnson, M. P., (2008), Atypology of domestic violence, Northeastern University Press, Lebanon, NH; and Johnson M. P., Leone

J. M. and Xu Y., (2014), Intimate terrorism and situational couple violence in general surveys: ex-spouses required, Violence Against Women, Vol. 20, No 2,

pp. 186-207.

(24) European Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) (2014), Violence against women: An EU-wide survey: Main results, Publications Oce of the European Union,

Luxembourg, pp. 64-67.

(25) Hoyle, C., (2008), Will she be safe? A critical analysis of risk assessment in domestic violence cases, Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 30, No 3,

pp. 323-337.

(26) DG Justice guidance document related to the transposition and implementation of Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision

2001/220/JHA.

(27) Regulation (EU) No 606/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil

matters. Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/%20TXT/?uri=celex%3A32013R0606

(28) Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support

and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/

TXT/?qid=1563809966533&uri=CELEX:32012L0029

Intimate partner violence is the most widespread

form of violence against women, and rarely con-

sists of a single event but rather repeated acts of

abuse. It has been characterised as a severe and

escalating form of violence consisting of multiple

forms of abuse, terrorisation and threats, and in-

creasingly possessive and controlling behaviour

on the par t of the abuser (23). As a result, female

victims of violence have multiple and diverse

needs that have to be tackled. One of their top

three needs is to be protected from fur ther victi-

misation (24).

Risk assessment procedures and risk manage-

ment strategies are considered parts of a sy s-

tem-wide response to prevent revictimisation.

On national level, the development and/or the

improvement of risk assessment procedures

and risk management interventions is crucial in

designing tailor-made strategies targeted at the

needs of victims of intimate partner violence and

their children.

In the context of intimate partner violence, risk

assessment can be defined as evaluating the

level of risk of harm a victim may be facing, in-

cluding the likelihood of repeated and/or lethal

violence. A range of agencies may be involved

in carr ying out risk assessment, including victim

protection centres and womens shelters, social

services and health professionals, as well as pro-

bation and prison services. However, the police,

as the agency often tasked with the front-line

management of intimate partner violence, have

the lead role in formal risk assessment process-

es. For the police, the goal is to identify high risk

cases that can be selected to receive violence

prevention interventions (25). The development of

risk management interventions depends greatly

on the purpose and outcome of risk assessment

instruments and whether the s ystem focuses on

victim safety planning or managing perpetrators

behaviour, or both.

In order to provide a legal and polic y framework

to risk assessment and risk management, the Eu-

ropean Union has introduced a number of leg-

islative and policy initiatives to protect victims

from further victimisation. Directive 2012/29/

EU (Victims Rights Directive) provides that vic-

tims needs should be dealt with in an individual

manner, based on an individual assessment (26).

Directive 2011/99/EU (27) on the European protec-

tion order and Regulation (EU) No 606/2013 (28)

on mutual recognition of protection measures in

civil matters should also be applied in risk assess-

ment and risk management. At international lev-

el, the Convention on preventing and combating

violence against women and domestic violence

(Istanbul Convention) in Article 51 establishes the

obligation of risk assessment and risk manage-

ment to ensure that all relevant authorities ef-

fectively assess and devise a plan to manage the