EU Guidelines on Violence Against Women and Girls and Combating All Forms of Discrimination Against Them - Operational Guidelines

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by Terk

EU guidelines establish the EU’s political commitment to prevent and combat violence against women and girls and all forms of discrimination. They draw on international and multilateral foundations, including UN studies, resolutions, and EU-relevant human rights and humanitarian law instruments. The document defines gender-based violence and sets operational aims: promote gender equality, collect comparable data and indicators, devise coordinated prevention and victim-support strategies across all sectors, and ensure accountability, access to justice, training, legal aid, and protection for victims and witnesses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Objective of the Guidelines

Definition

Operational Guidelines

Operational Objectives

EU Intervention Tools

Annex I

Annex II

EU GUIDELINES ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS AND COMBATING ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THEM PAGES 3 3 4 4 5 9 10 12 1 · OBJECTIVE OF THE GUIDELINES 2 · DEFINITION 3 · OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES EU INTERVENTION TOOLS EVALUATION ANNEX I ANNEX II HE Day 2018-Female Genital Mutilation – Violence © Chiara Guidetti / EUD 3 1-OBJECTIVE OF THE GUIDELINES The adoption of guidelines on violence against women and girls is a mark of the EU’s clear political will to treat the subject of women’s rights as a priority and to take long-term action in that field. In focusing on the issue of violence against women and girls, the EU will be taking effective action against one of the major human rights violations of today’s world. These guidelines are based on a solid multilateral acquis, the most recent milestones of which are the UN Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women (2006), the work on indicators on violence carried out by Ms Yakin Ertük, UN Special Rapporteuron Violence against Women (2008), UN resolution 61/143 on intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (2006) and UN Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on women, peace and security, as well as resolution 2005/2215 of the European Parliament on the situation of women in armed conflicts and their role in thereconstruction and the democratic process in countries after a conflict, the relevant articles of the Conventions on human rights and international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. The guidelines are also intended to encourage the implementation of a greater number of specific projects aimed at women and girls, financed by, inter alia, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, but also by any other appropriate financial instrument of the EU and the Member States. The adoption of these guidelines is a clear reaffirmation of the universality of human rights. 2-DEFINITION For the purposes of these guidelines, the definition of violence against women is based on the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women: The term ‘violence against women’ means any act of genderbased violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. 4 EU GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS 3-OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES The EU reiterates the three indissociable aims of combating violence against women: prevention of violence, protection of and support for victims and prosecution of the perpetrators of such violence. OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND COMBAT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN The EU will state that the obstacles to exercising their socio-economic and political rights increase women’s exposure to violence. In that respect, and with the aim of preventing such violence, the strategies of the Member States and of the EU in its external action must in particular focus on legislation and public policies which discriminate against women and girls, and the lack of diligence in combating discrimination practised in the private sphere and gender-stereotyping. COLLECTION OF DATA ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDICATORS Despite the successes of recent years, accurate comparable quantitative and qualitative data are needed on all forms of violence against women and girls, as well as relevant indicators, so that States can frame their actions and strategies in full knowledge of the facts. There are still considerable disparities in the types of data collected, in terms of population groups studied and the type of violence measured. The EU will endeavour to identify institutional and other tools enabling data to be collected and to help boost national capacit

FAQs

What is the objective of the EU guidelines on violence against women and girls?

They reaffirm the EU’s commitment to treat women’s rights as a priority and to take long-term action, including effective measures against major human rights violations.

How do the guidelines define violence against women?

They refer to gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering, including threats, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty in public or private life.

What operational objectives does the EU focus on?

The EU reiterates prevention, protection and support for victims, and prosecution of perpetrators, including promoting gender equality and combating discrimination, improving data collection and indicators, and devising coordinated strategies.

Oct 17, 2026

Uploaded by Terk