Policy recommendations

• Author: European Institute for Gender Equality (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 11-14

1. Policy recommendations

11Intimate partner violence and witness intervention: what are the deciding factors?

1. Policy recommendations

(1) For instance, the campaign Non.No.Nein. Say no! Stop violence against women (see: https://ec.europa.eu/justice/saynostopvaw/index.html ).

The EU and Member States should raise

awareness on intimate partner violence

in all its forms

The EU could suppor t both civil society and

national efforts by:

 providing funding for organisations that

support witnesses and victims of intimate

partner violence through education and

awareness raising;

 building on existing information mate-

rial (1) to create new resources;

facilitating the exchange of experience

and good practice; and

building evidence on effec tive methods

to raise awareness across all Member

States.

Learning materials for witnesses could help

them reco gnise intimate par tner violence in

all its forms, explain how to initiate a conver-

sation with the victim if they are concerned

about someone they know, and provide

guidance on who to contact for further

information. Member States could develop

resources specifically for witnesses of inti-

mate partner violence; expand existing

materials aimed solely at victims to include

witnesses among the intended audience;

examine the effectiveness of these meas-

ures to identif y areas for improvement;

and highlight that intimate partner violence

takes many forms, of which physical vio-

lence is just one.

The EU and Member States should

encourage witnesses to act even when they

are unsure about the situation, and provide

advice on possible courses of action

In collaboration with Member States and

EU-level organisations supporting vic tims

of intimate partner violence, the EU could

develop or collate materials that outline the

range of courses of action available to wit-

nesses. Such materials would help witnesses

make an informed choice about which course

of action to follow. The EU could promote

and disseminate such material, or provide

support to Member States and civil society

organisations to do so.

Resources and public campaigns should:

emphasise that it is difficult to be certain

about intimate partner violence;

encourage witnesses to act even when

they are unsure what to do and advise

them on the possible courses of action

and issues to consider when talking to

the victim;

advise on how to reach out to suppor t ser-

vices, how to accompany the victim to sup-

port services and how to repor t the issue

to the authorities;

emphasise that all action can be helpful

and the most appropriate course of action

depends on the circumstances; and

direct witnesses to where they can seek

further specialist adv ice.