Eurostat: Every third woman in the EU experienced gender-based violence

Around 50 million women aged 18-74 in the European Union or 31 per cent, experienced physical (including threats) or sexual violence in adulthood, based on the EU gender-based violence survey (wave 2021), EU statistics agency Eurostat said on November 25.

Eurostat posted the data on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,  observed every year on November 25.

When comparing the prevalence of gender-based violence by age group, 35 per cent of women in the youngest age group (aged 18 to 29) reported experiencing gender-based violence, compared with 24 per cent in the oldest age group (aged 65-74), Eurostat said.

The statistics agency said that data also show that home is not always a safe place for many women.

In 2021, 18 per cent of women who had ever had a partner experienced physical or sexual violence by their partner, and if psychological violence is also taken into account, 32 per cent have or have had a violent partner in their lifetime.

Based on the EU gender-based violence survey (wave 2021), 20 per cent of women experienced physical (including threats) or sexual violence by a non-partner, with nine per cent experiencing degrading or humiliating acts other than rape, another seven per cent pointing to physical and not sexual violence and four per cent having experienced rape.

The percentage of women who said that they had experienced non-partner violence was higher in Finland (47 per cent), Sweden (42 per cent), Denmark (38 per cent), the Netherlands (36 per cent) and Luxembourg (34 per cent)

Eurostat said that in contrast, Bulgaria (six per cent), Poland (eight per cent) and Czechia (10 per cent) registered the lowest percentages. 

The analysis of non-partner violence by type shows that the greatest differences between EU countries concerning non-partner violence are seen in the prevalence of degrading or humiliating sexual acts other than rape. Values ranged between 24 per cent in Finland and 22 per cent in Sweden and below two per cent in Bulgaria, Czechia, and Poland, according to Eurostat.

(Photo: Fabrizio Turco/ freeimages.com)