Fight domestic violence

One in every five women in Europe is  a victim of the denigrating and inhumane crime of domestic violence at least once in her life. Even more women experience the ruptures of sexual harassment – the most terrible form of which being rape. Both domestic violence and sexual assaults are violations of a woman’s human rights and need to be treated as such!

A directive that sets out European-wide standards to fight domestic violence is needed. A common understanding of the seriousness of the problem is the starting point and has to produce a common definition that includes physical, verbal, and sexual violence and condemns any kind of intimidation. The directive needs to make domestic violence a priority policy and contain the obligation to help the victims, prosecute the harassers, and raise awareness.