European Campaign to Raise Awareness of Violence against Women

Rationale

Domestic violence exists in all countries and across all social classes. It may be something that happens behind closed doors, but it is clearly a problem for society as a whole.

 

The European campaign to prevent violence against women underlined the political will of the Union to curb this sad phenomenon and to bring it out of the closed family environment. The following statistics serve to illustrate the scale of the problem:

 

·         in the EU, one woman in five has at least once in her life been the victim of violence by her male partner;

 

·         25% of all violent crimes reported involve a man assaulting his wife or partner. 

Every year, thousands of women and children leave their homes because they are victims of abuse.

Link to European Commission website on the subject

In response to the 1997 European Parliament resolution on the need to establish a European Union wide campaign for zero tolerance of violence against women, the European Commission conducted a European campaign to raise awareness of violence against women, with particular emphasis on domestic violence.

The campaign is built on the EU's fundamental commitment to defend women's rights, and endeavours to stem violent behaviour. The campaign conveys the following messages:

"elimination of all forms of violence, including domestic violence, is an absolute priority"

"zero tolerance of violence against women"

The Commission has carried out a range of initiatives, including the dissemination of the findings of studies and research conducted in the Member States, in order to get these messages across effectively.