Violence against Women: An EU-wide survey
The FRA survey on violence against women is based on face-to-face interviews with 42,000 women across the EU. The survey was carried out between March and September 2012 and presents the most comprehensive survey worldwide on women’s experiences of violence.
The survey responds to a request for data on violence against women from the European Parliament, which was reiterated by the Council of the EU in its Conclusions on the Eradication of Violence against Women in the EU.
The survey asked women about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including domestic violence, since the age of 15 and over the 12 months before the interview. Questions were also asked about incidents of stalking, sexual harassment, and the role played by new technologies in women’s experiences of abuse. In addition, the survey asked about respondents’ experiences of violence in childhood.
The respondents were selected based on random sampling. The results are representative of the experiences and opinions of 18-74-year-old women living in the EU.
The survey was carried out by professional interviewers, trained to ensure confidentiality. The survey data set does not contain any personal information which would enable respondents to be identified. Care was taken during the data analysis so that nobody can be recognised from the results.
The results of the survey are summarised in a FRA summary report and a full report published in March 2014. Additional information about how the survey was carried out can be found in the Technical report.
The Violence against Women survey data explorer offers users an interactive way to examine the survey results. It allows users to visualise the survey results on maps, compare results graphically between countries, or to browse results by topic. Results can also be exported in various formats for further use and reference. The reproduction of the data and charts is authorised according to FRA’s terms and conditions. When using the results found in the data explorer, the FRA gender-based violence against women survey dataset, 2012 must be acknowledged as the source.
Different visualisation tools
This interactive tool offers different ways to explore the data behind the survey results. There are four main visualisation options: Map, Bar chart, Country detail and Country comparison, as well as a Data table option that shows the data for the selected visualisation. There is also an “At a glance” visualisation that presents some of the key findings of the survey.
How to explore the data
The survey questions are divided into six categories, shown as tabs: Physical, sexual and psychological violence; Consequences of physical and sexual violence; Sexual harassment and stalking; Violence in childhood; Safety and security; Opinions, attitudes and awareness. The numbers on the tabs indicate how many questions are in each group. Choose a category, then a question from the drop-down list in the gray box, and the desired visualisation. You can also apply additional filters by choosing from the options in the grey box. Survey results can be filtered by respondents’ age, education and main activity.
How to export the data
The export options can be found at the foot of each page. To export the visualisation as an image, choose one of Figure (PNG), Figure (High resolution), EPS (High resolution) or PDF (High resolution). To export the data for the selected visualisation in Microsoft Excel format, choose Data (XLS). To generate a Page URL, Embeddable HTML or a Page citation, choose the corresponding option.
About this survey
Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey
Technical requirements
How to use the data explorer
Page URL
Page URL (short)
Embeddable HTML
Page citation
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- Case law database - a comprehensive compilation of leading case law on discrimination on various grounds in the EU Member States
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Technical requirements for the FRA data visualization tool
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Documents
Please be informed that all non-official documents produced by the EUMC (EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, which was the predecessor organisation of the FRA), such as working documents (including "working definitions") and conference papers have been archived and are no longer available on the FRA website. The official EUMC documents such as annual reports and thematic reports are, however, still available on the website of FRA.