One in Three Women in Europe Experience Violence – Europe’s Biggest Study
March 5, 2014
One in Three Women in Europe Experience Violence – Europe’s Biggest Study
One in three – or 33% – of women in Europe say that they have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 by a partner or non-partner, according to the findings of Europe’s biggest-ever study on violence against women carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU FRA).
Over one in five – 22% – have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner and 43% have experienced some form of psychological violence by either a current or former partner.
The shocking statistics reveal that women are being abused at home, at work, in public and on-line every day across the 28 EU member states. The full statistics, including initial comparisons for Ireland, will be revealed at a seminar hosted tomorrow (March 5th) by SAFE Ireland, the EU FRA, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, and Rape Crisis Network Ireland (Mansion House, 10:15 am to 2 pm).
Patricia Prendiville, Irish Board member of the EU FRA, said: “The figures in this survey cannot and should not be ignored. Physical sexual and psychological violence against women is an extensive human rights abuse in all EU member states including Ireland.”
The FRA survey on violence against women is based on face-to-face interviews with 42,000 women, including 1,500 Irish women, aged between 18 and 74. The women were interviewed in their own homes. The survey is the most comprehensive worldwide on women’s experience of violence.
The survey also reveals that over half of all women (55%) have experienced some form of sexual harassment with one in three victims saying that the perpetrator was a boss, colleague or customer. One in three women – 33% – have childhood experiences of physical or sexual violence at the hands of an adult.
