PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INTEGRITY OF WOMEN AND GIRLS 4 /9

4.1 Violence Against Women in Europe According to the 2014 survey by the European Union Agency for Human Rights (FRA) for which more than 42,000 women were interviewed,14 the scale of physical, sexual and psychological violence against women is still shockingly high in Europe: 

Table 2 FRA   survey (2014) – experiencing violence  

1. 62 million women in the EU have experienced violence since the age of 15

  1 in 3 women has experienced some form of physical and/or sexual assault since the age of 15, translating into 62 million women throughout the EU. 

 About 13 million women in the EU experienced physical violence in the 12 months prior to the survey interviews. This corresponds to 7% of women aged 18–74 in the EU. 

 About 3.7 million women in the EU experienced sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey interviews. This corresponds to 2% of women aged 18–74 in the EU.

 2. Women experiencing physical and sexual violence from their partner or former partner 

 1 in 5 (22%) of all women who is or has been in a relationship has experienced physical and/or sexual violence from the partner. 

 Of the women who indicate they have been raped by their current partner, about one third (31%) say they have experienced six or more incidents of rape by their partner. 

3. Violence does not stop in pregnancy and continues after separation 

 Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to violence: 42% experienced violence from their previous partner while pregnant (FRA 2014a:22).  

 After breaking up with a violent partner, 1 in 6 women continued to be victimised by their former partner. 

 1 in 10 women has been stalked by a former partner. Source : http://fileserver.waveetwork.org/researchreports/2016_WAVE_Statistic.pdf

The EU average for women experiencing physical or psychological violence in 2014 was 33 %, with Denmark (52 %), Finland (47 %) and Sweden (46 %) being on the top of the list.  However, the FRA survey also suggests that the higher level of gender equality could also lead to higher levels of disclosure about violence against women: "Incidents of violence against women are more likely to be openly addressed and challenged in societies with greater equality”. Bra has also indicated the Swedish system for recording each individual rape as a single offence (even if it regards the same people in the same year) contributes to the high number of reports.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2018/604958/IPOL_IDA(2018)604958_EN.pdf