1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German election 2025Middle East crisisRussia's war in Ukraine
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV

Violence against women

André LeslieMarch 5, 2014

One in three women in the EU has been physically or sexually assaulted, according to a new study. DW takes a look at the violence committed against women - and the ways people around the globe are fighting back.

https://p.dw.com/p/16pKw
A woman covers her face, sitting on a set of steps
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The Vienna-based EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released a major study on Wednesday (05.03.2014) showing that violence against women in the European Union is still rife. The report "shows that physical, sexual and psychological violence against women is an extensive human rights abuse in all EU Member States," according to agency director Morten Kjaerum.

The agency interviewed 42,000 women between the ages of 18 and 74 from across the bloc, making it the world's largest report on violence against women to date.

Violence against women is a problem around the world. DW takes a look at the problem - and the ways people are fighting back.

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

Women's rights flash mob in Cologne on Feb. 14, 2014

Flash mob for women

Women's advocates stage a flash mob in Cologne to raise awareness about violence and inequality.
February 17, 2014
An Indian girl holds a candle during a candlelight vigil to seek capital punishment for rapists in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. The hours-long gang-rape and near fatal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi triggered outrage and anger across the country Wednesday as Indians demanded action from authorities who have long ignored persistent violence and harassment against women. (Photo:Saurabh Das/AP/dapd)

'Awakening society'

A year after the fatal Delhi rape, victims of sexual violence feel more confident to speak out.
December 16, 2013
Afghan Parliamentarians listen to a speech by President Hamid Karzai (not in picture) during the opening session of Afghan Parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, 06 March 2013.

Curtailed rights

A new law in Afghanistan effectively hinders the prosecution of domestic violence cases.
February 7, 2014
Women in Saudi Arabia wait for a taxi in Riyadh

Perpetual minors

Saudi women are caught in a system of gender apartheid, says Elham Manea.
December 30, 2013
Women in Pakistan protest on the International Day to End Violence Against Women

Seeking a split

Ever more Pakistani women are getting divorces, despite stigma and threats.
May 24, 2013
Anti-rape protesters at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India on January 01, 2013. (Photo: IANS/ABACAUSA.COM)

'Rape tag'

Global headlines on sexual assaults on foreigners are tarnishing India's image abroad.
June 6, 2013

Women's rights

Iranian women right's activist Asieh Amini fights for equality before the law.
May 27, 2013
An Afghan woman votes at a polling station for the parliamentary elections on September 18, 2010(Photo: Majid Saeedi/ Getty Images)

Women lose in Afghanistan

Lawmakers in Afghanistan have blocked legislation proposing a minimum marriage age for girls, and women not being prosecuted for rapes committed against them. Some said such laws might encourage sex outside of marriage.
May 18, 2013
Cambodian opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua meets demonstrators from the ASEAN Grassroots People's Assembly as they protested for human rights, land rights and democracy in front of the Cambodia parliament in Phnom Penh, November 2012 (Photo: Stephen Morrison)

Wrong CV, wrong gender?

Cambodia's most visible female politician raises hackles in a male-dominated society.
May 8, 2013
A women with a megaphone in a crowd (photo: Sybille Fezer/medica mondiale)

Fighting sexual violence

Relief organization medica mondiale has been supporting survivors of sexual violence for 20 years.
April 11, 2013