Yesterday, May 7, 2024, The EU Council approved, for the first time in history, a European law on preventing violence against women and domestic violence. EU Directive 2022/0066 It contains measures to prevent violence against women and domestic violence and establishes standards for the protection of victims.
Below is a view basic features of this EU law. The following are criminalized: genital mutilation, forced marriages, sharing intimate content without consent in cyberspace, cyber stalking and cyber incitement to hatred and violence. Imprisonment for the aforementioned offenses ranges from at least one to five years.
The directive contains a list aggravating circumstancesFor example, the commission of the above-mentioned criminal acts against a child, former or current spouse or partner (or spouse/partner), public figure, journalist or human rights defenders results in the imposition of a more severe sentence.
The directive also contains detailed rules for establishment support and protection measure which Member States are obliged to provide to victims. It is expected that comprehensive support for victims of violence and domestic violence will be further improved by including in the text the necessity and obligation to ensure victims have access to both general and specialized support services, shelters, and health services, including services related to sexual and reproductive health.
The Directive recognises as the most vulnerable victims of violence, those at greatest risk, persons who suffer multidimensional, intersectional forms of discrimination. In this regard, states must guarantee protection to all victims of gender-based violence, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics, with a special emphasis on the needs of LBTI women. Furthermore, victims of violence and domestic violence should be made more easily able to report violence, for example, by introducing the possibility of reporting cyberbullying online as a minimum standard.
EU Member States are also required to put in place measures to ensure that children receive professional help. When children report a crime committed by someone with parental responsibility, the authorities must take protective measures for the child’s safety before informing the alleged perpetrator of the child’s accusation. In order to protect the victim’s privacy and prevent further victimisation, Member States will have to ensure that information relating to the victim’s past sexual behaviour is admissible in criminal proceedings where this information is relevant and necessary.
In line with the idea of building a safer future, the aim of the preventive measures introduced by this Directive is to increase the level of awareness among citizens about the root causes of violence against women and domestic violence and to acquire knowledge in the educational system about the role of the concept of consent in interpersonal relationships.
However, although the Directive has holistic approach elimination of violence against women and domestic violence and contains measures for prevention, protection, support for victims, access to justice and prosecution of perpetrators, some forms of violence against women did not find their place in the text. Below we list some of missed opportunities.
First of all, femicide as the murder of a woman caused primarily by the fact that she is female, due to the lack of a foundation within EU legislation, indicates that there is a great possibility that the practice of impunity will be maintained and the urgent introduction of gender-specific protection and adequate judicial treatment will be missed.
Likewise, to our regret, the opportunity to include criminalization of rape with a European definition of consent to a sexual act. Sexual violence against women, widespread across the EU, remains unpunished or subject to lenient penalties in many Member States, and the absence of a definition of consent is an obstacle to strengthening protection and access to justice for all women victims of rape. The Directive does, however, require Member States to do more to prevent rape by raising public awareness and making education on the concept of consent mandatory in schools, as well as by challenging harmful gender norms and roles. Despite some shortcomings, this is the first time that EU legislation has explicitly imposed an obligation on Member States to ensure that medical care is available to women victims of sexual violence. Member States will also have to ensure training for professional and medical staff who come into contact with victims and survivors of sexual violence.
Unfortunately, it was also missing recognizing the connection between domestic violence and violence against children in the context of domestic violence. This omission is particularly significant because of its impact on child custody proceedings where understanding the continuum of violence, from violence against women to violence against children, is crucial to safeguarding the rights of children and their mothers.
EU legislators also failed to address it in more detail migration trends in Europe so the only concrete measures proposed relate to the necessity to ensure access to shelters for all women victims of violence regardless of their residence status. There is nothing in the text of the Directive that would refer to the protection of personal data of migrant women and the procedure for transferring personal data from shelters to other institutions such as immigration offices or judicial authorities.
Finally, welcoming the adoption of Directive 2022/0066, we point out that EU member states have three years to transpose the Directive into national legislation.
The Croatian translation of Directive 2022/0066 is available at the link
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-33-2024-INIT/hr/pdf
