Information on data

The aim of the EU-GBV survey is to measure gender-based violence as defined in the Istanbul Convention. To collect the data according to this definition, the survey focuses on different types of violence experienced and the relationship between victim and perpetrator. Thus, the survey also includes other forms of inter-personal violence in addition to gender-based violence against women.

Gender-based violence against women is defined as ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or violence that affects women disproportionately’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 3,d).

Domestic violence is defined as ‘all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 3,d).

Inter-personal violence refers to violence between individuals, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is subdivided into family and intimate partner violence and community violence.

As outlined above, the concepts of the types of violence follow the Istanbul Convention. However, certain topics that are covered by the Convention are not included in the EU-GBV. Examples are forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion, forced sterilisation and so-called honour crimes.

Additionally, some types of violence are only partially covered. For instance, psychological violence covers only experiences with intimate partners, while sexual harassment covers only experiences at the workplace.

Sexual harassment at work

Sexual harassment is defined as ‘any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 40).

In the EU directive, sexual harassment is defined as ‘any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment’ (EU directive 2006/54 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation, Article 2, 1 (d)).

In the EU-GBV survey, sexual harassment at work covers the following unwanted behaviours with sexual connotations that happen in a work context:

• inappropriate staring or leering; being exposed to sexually explicit images or videos
• indecent sexual jokes or offensive remarks about a person’s body or private life
• inappropriate invitations to go out on a date or suggestions for sexual activity of any kind
• unsolicited physical contact
• inappropriate advances on social networking websites or sexually explicit emails or text messages
• threatening with unpleasant consequences if sexual proposals or advances are refused
• any other similar behaviour with sexual connotations that took place at work or work-related settings and that offended, humiliated, or intimidated the respondent.

Psychological violence by intimate partner

Psychological violence is defined as ‘intentional conduct of seriously impairing a person’s psychological integrity through coercion or threats’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 33). 

In the EU-GBV survey, psychological violence is observed only in intimate partner relationships and includes a range of behaviours encompassing acts of emotional abuse and controlling behaviour. The range of behaviours included has been extended to include the concept of ‘economic harm’, which may be linked with psychological violence. This type of violence covers the following types of behaviour by an intimate partner towards the respondent:

• belittling and humiliating
• forbidding the respondent to see friends or family, or to engage in hobbies or other activities
• tracking the respondent via GPS, phone or social network
• forbidding the respondent to leave the house without permission or locking the respondent up
• constantly accusing the respondent of being unfaithful or getting angry if the respondent speaks to another person
• forbidding the respondent to work
• controlling the finances of the whole family and the respondent’s personal expenses
• keeping or taking away the respondent’s ID card/passport to control the respondent
• yelling and smashing things or behaving in a certain way with the aim of scaring or intimidating the respondent
• threatening to hurt the respondent’s children or other people close to the respondent
• threatening to take away the respondent’s children or to deny custody
• threatening to harm them self if the respondent leaves them.

Physical violence by any perpetrator

Physical violence is defined as ‘intentional conduct of committing acts of physical violence against another person’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 35). The Convention’s explanatory report clarifies that the term ‘physical violence’ refers to ‘bodily harm suffered as a result of the application of immediate and unlawful physical force’ (Paragraph 188).

Physical violence, as referred to in the EU-GBV, also refers to a range of violent types of behaviour or acts involving harm and fear, such as:

• threatening to harm the respondent
• pushing or shoving the respondent, pulling their hair, slapping or throwing something at them
• punching the respondent or beating them with an object
• kicking
• burning (with fire or acid or by some other means)
• trying to choke or strangle the respondent
• threatening to use or actually using a knife, gun, acid or something similar
• using force against the respondent in some other way with the aim of hurting them.

Sexual violence by any perpetrator

Sexual violence, including rape, is defined as ‘(a) engaging in non-consensual vaginal, anal or oral penetration of a sexual nature of the body of another person with any bodily part or object; (b) engaging in other non-consensual acts of a sexual nature with a person; (c) causing another person to engage in non-consensual acts of a sexual nature with a third person’. It also clarifies that ‘consent must be given voluntarily as the result of the person’s free will assessed in the context of the surrounding circumstances’ (Istanbul Convention, Article 36).

In the EU-GBV survey, this type of violence includes:

• unwanted sexual intercourse through force or physical violence or by exploiting a situation in which the respondent is not able to refuse sexual intercourse because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• unwanted sexual intercourse which the respondent is too afraid to refuse
• cases in which the respondent is forced into unwanted sexual intercourse with another person or persons
• attempts to carry out any of the above acts or any other unwanted sexual behaviour that the respondent finds degrading or humiliating,
• unwanted sexual touching by non-partners in adulthood.

Violence experienced in childhood

The defintion of 'women' also considers girls under the age of 18 years (Istanbul Convention, Article 3,f).

In the EU-GBV Survey, violence experienced in childhood covers:

• psychological violence perpetrated by parents, such as belittling or humiliating a child verbally
• serious physical violence perpetrated by parents such as intentional hitting, kicking, beating with an object like a stick or a belt, burning or stabbing
• sexual violence experienced before the age of 15 perpetrated by any person, such as posing naked in front of another person, unwanted sexual touching or sexual intercourse.

Stalking

Stalking is defined as ‘the intentional conduct of repeatedly engaging in threatening conduct directed at another person, causing them to fear for their safety' (Istanbul Convention, Article 34).

In the EU-GBV survey, stalking includes a range of offensive or threatening forms of behaviour or acts repeated in the course of the respondent’s life. This type of violence covers types of behaviour and acts carried out by any person, such as

• sending unwanted messages, including messages on social media, emails and letters, or gifts
• making obscene, threatening, nuisance or silent telephone calls
• trying persistently to contact with the respondent, waiting or loitering outside the respondent’s home, school or workplace
• following or spying on the respondent in person
• intentionally damaging the respondent’s things (car, motorbike, letterbox, etc.) or the belongings of people close to the respondent, or harming animals belonging to the respondent
• making offensive or embarrassing comments about the respondent in public, including comments on social networks
• publishing photos, videos or highly personal information about the respondent.

The relationship between victim and perpetrator is another factor to be taken into consideration in the concepts of gender-based and domestic violence explained above.

Intimate partners are persons with whom a victim has or had an intimate relationship:

• current or former spouses
• civil union partners or cohabitants
• people in an informal relationship or who are dating
• people whose marriage has been dissolved or declared null
• people who have been engaged, formally or informally, to get married or enter a civil partnership

Non-partners are all other perpetrators with whom a victim does not have or has never had an intimate relationship. The EU-GBV survey asks the sex of the perpetrator for each type of perpetrator, and the relationship between victim and perpetrator is classified according to the following types of perpetrators:

• relative: in the case of violence experienced in childhood, this type is divided up as follows: father or father figure, mother or mother figure, brother or half-brother, sister or half-sister, and other relative
• friend
• professional: in cases involving adult victims, this type is divided up as follows: supervisor, boss, professor, teacher; person with authority or privileged status: army or police officer, religious leader, doctor
• any other person known to the victim: colleague, neighbour, family friend, acquaintance
• stranger

The term ‘domestic perpetrator’, as used in the EU-GBV survey, includes family members and other individuals living or having lived in the same household as the victim at the time of one or more violent events. They also include intimate partners as perpetrators.

The acts covered in this survey are certain forms of behaviour that the respondent may have experienced. They are covered by screening questions asked in the questionnaire. One example is inappropriate staring or leering at work which made the respondent feel uncomfortable (one type of behaviour = one act).

This kind of behaviour could have:

• been experienced once or more than once
• happened as an isolated behaviour or as one of the acts experienced during a violent episode
• been exhibited by one or more people on the same occasion or separate occasions

An episode is a single violent situation during which the respondent may have experienced one or more different violent acts. If, for instance, a person was raped and beaten in the street, this would be a single episode comprising two acts. The following examples show the difference between the two concepts:

• In the last five years, a woman was pushed at different moments in time by the same person: one type of violent behaviour = one act, several episodes involving the same person.
• During the last year, a woman was pushed once by her partner and once by a stranger: one type of violent behaviour = one act, two episodes involving different people.
• During one violent episode, a woman was pushed by her partner = one episode, one act.
• During one violent episode, a woman was pushed and beaten = one episode, two acts.

In addition to ‘episode’, other terms, such as ‘event’ or ‘incident’, can be found in the literature. 

Repeated violence (series of episodes) refers to similar violent episodes repeated by the same person(s), during which similar thing(s) are done under the same circumstances more than once. For instance, a woman might be beaten by her partner in several episodes over a period of three years.

The aim of the EU-GBV survey is to explore both the current level of violence and lifetime experiences of violence. If the survey is repeated, the most recent data and data covering shorter periods (the last 12 months and the last 5 years) could be compared. This enables to monitor this phenomenon in a way that lifetime prevalence indicators could not achieve. Although data for the last year would be the best indicator for monitoring, comparability is possible only if the number of observations reaches a significant level.

Violence experienced in adulthood covers violence experienced by a non-partner since the age of 15 and intimate partner violence during a person’s lifetime. The reference time of experienced violence is divided into:

• last 12 months
• 1-5 years ago
• earlier than 5 years ago.

Data covering experiences over the last year and the last five years can give an indication of the extent and the nature of current levels of violence and an estimate of the number of people who may require help. Lifetime experiences, by contrast, provide an indication of the total number of people ever affected by such forms of violence.