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Fifteen percent of Belgian women have already been victims of physical violence from partners. This is evident from the Belgian results of a European survey on violence against women and other forms of interpersonal violence.
The report shows that women in our country are more often the victims of violence. Whether psychological, physical or sexual, and whether it takes place in private, at work or in public spaces, women are more exposed to violence than men. And when that happens, it is more frequent and more severe.
For example, victims of sexual partner violence are almost exclusively women. About one in thirteen women has already become a victim. Women are also more represented than men among victims of physical violence. In Belgium, fifteen percent of women indicated that they had already suffered physical violence from a partner. Women also report ‘serious’ physical violence more often.
As far as psychological violence is concerned, the percentage of victims is comparable between men and women: about thirty percent. But there is a significant difference in the frequency of that type of violence. This is more common in women, while men describe it as one-off or rare experiences.
Another finding is that not all women are exposed to violence in the same way. Violence is greater among women in vulnerable positions. This includes women who are unable to work or unemployed and who have poor health or a difficult financial situation. Among women who combine these characteristics, almost half (45%) report having suffered sexual violence from a partner.
The survey was conducted, among others by Statistics Flanders, between July 2021 and August 2022 among a representative sample of the Belgian population between the ages of 18 and 74.