Europe - Human Rghts Watchdog Campaigns to End Violence Against Women

By Helena Spongenberg

One fifth to one quarter of all women in Europe have experienced physical violence at least once during their lives while more than one tenth have suffered sexual violence, according to a new report by Europe's main human rights watchdog.

In a campaign launched on Monday (27 November) called "stop domestic violence", the Council of Europe calls for domestic violence to be criminalised, victims to be protected and perpetrators to be punished across Europe.

In some of the organisation's 46 member states, as much as 45 percent of women experience some form of violence, including stalking, with most violent acts being carried out by men in their immediate social environment such as partners and ex-partners, the Strasbourg-based body said.

The campaign "is a message to … all of us to stop looking the other way and to stop minimising the scale and the gravity of this problem," said Terry Davis, head of the Council of Europe.

Reminding the organisation's member states that they have a responsibility to protect all their inhabitants, he stressed that governments "must therefore take all reasonable measures to prevent, investigate and punish all forms of violence against women, including violence within the family."

"Most importantly, the message of the campaign must reach the victims and tell them that they are not alone," he added when speaking at the launch of the campaign in Madrid.

Figures gathered by the organisation show that violence happens in every European country and the cost to society of domestic violence is enormous with studies in individual countries indicating it costs from €2.4 billion per year in Spain to €34 billion in the UK in social, judicial, police and health bills.

The Council of Europe chose Spain to launch the campaign in recognition of the Spanish government's efforts to crack down on domestic violence, including a 2004 law that toughens penalties against men who commit domestic violence and the appointment of special judges to investigate suspected cases.

Spain's prime minister Jose Louis Zapatero, who has described domestic violence as his country's "greatest national disgrace," said 40 courts dealing specifically with domestic violence had been set up and the number of police agents who work with abused women boosted by nearly 90 percent to some 1,400, according to the Associated Press.

The council also positively highlighted efforts in Austria, where police have been trained to expel perpetrators from the home and where special outreach services for victims with information and advice have been set up. Slovenia was also praised for training nursing staff in all hospitals to screen for domestic violence.

The campaign will run until 2008 and work through governments, parliaments and regional and local authorities, creating partnerships with leading NGOs to ensure wide-ranging action.