VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN EUROPE: PERSISTENT GAPS AND THE NEED FOR STRONGER SPECIALIST SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Nearly 3 000 women were killed in Europe in 2024, most of them by a current or former intimate partner. At the same time, women fleeing violence still struggle to find safe accommodation, while helplines receive almost one million calls from survivors per year. These are some of the findings of the WAVE Country Report 2025, a biannual publication by Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE). For EESC Info, WAVE gives a short analysis.

Violence against women remains one of the most widespread violations of human rights in Europe. Despite decades of advocacy and legal progress, the findings of the WAVE Country Report 2025 demonstrate that, while women across Europe continue to face significant risks, the services designed to protect them remain insufficiently funded and unevenly distributed.

Published by WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe), the Country Report provides a comprehensive overview of women’s specialist services in 46 European countries, including national women’s helplines, shelters, women’s centres, services for survivors of sexualised violence, and prevention initiatives. The report also examines emerging issues such as technology-facilitated violence, offering a detailed picture of the realities facing survivors and the organisations supporting them. A separate chapter examines femicide in Europe, presenting available data on gender-related killings of women and analysing gaps in monitoring and prevention systems across countries.

Persistent gaps in support services

Women’s specialist services (WSS) are a cornerstone of effective responses to violence against women. These services provide essential support such as emergency accommodation, legal advocacy, psychological counselling and long-term recovery assistance. The WAVE Country Report, however, highlights persistent gaps in the funding and availability of WSS across Europe.

One of the most critical areas concerns access to safe accommodation. Across the 46 countries analysed, 3,224 shelters accessible to women provide around 48,860 bed spaces for survivors and their children. While this represents an increase compared to previous reporting, it remains far below the minimum standards recommended by the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention. Only 12 out of the 46 countries currently meet the benchmark of one family place in a shelter per 10,000 inhabitants, meaning that the vast majority of European countries still lack sufficient safe accommodation for women fleeing violence.

These gaps have direct consequences for survivors. When shelters operate at full capacity, women may be forced to remain in unsafe environments, travel long distances to access protection, or face further risks through sofa-surfing or even sleeping on the street. Limited shelter capacity also places significant pressure on frontline organisations already working under constrained resources.

Helplines are another crucial entry point for survivors seeking support. By 2024, 39 out of 46 European countries (85%) reported having at least one national women’s helpline, with most operating free of charge and available 24 hours a day. These services collectively received nearly one million calls in 2024, demonstrating both the scale of the problem and the central role of helplines in connecting survivors with assistance.

The realities faced by frontline organisations

Women’s specialist services remain the backbone of support for survivors across Europe. Many shelters, counselling centres and helplines were established by feminist civil society organisations and continue to operate through survivor-centred, rights-based approaches grounded in decades of expertise.

However, the Country Report shows that many of these services operate under difficult conditions. Although most shelters receive some form of state or municipal funding, financial support is often short-term, project-based, or insufficient for long-term planning. This creates uncertainty for organisations as they struggle to maintain staffing levels, expand services, or respond to increasing demand.

Women’s centres play a particularly important role in providing non-residential support, including legal advice, psychological counselling and advocacy. Across Europe, at least 3,401 women’s centres are currently operating, but this still represents a major gap compared to recommended levels of service provision. On average, Europe has one centre for every 129,329 women, reflecting a shortfall of approximately 61% compared to recommended coverage levels.

These services are often the first place women turn when seeking help, especially if they are not yet ready or able to leave an abusive situation.

Emerging forms of violence

Alongside long-standing forms of gender-based violence, new challenges are emerging that require urgent attention from policymakers. One of the most significant developments highlighted in the WAVE Country Report 2025 is the rapid growth of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (TFVAWG).

Across Europe, 37 out of 46 countries reported an increase in technology-facilitated violence over the past two years. In nine countries, respondents to WAVE’s survey could not give a definitive answer, mainly because such data is not systematically collected. The most commonly reported forms include cyberstalking, digital surveillance and spyware, as well as online harassment, hate speech and threats. Image-based abuse, including the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, is also increasingly reported.

These forms of TFVAWG often intersect with offline abuse. Perpetrators may use digital tools to monitor victims, share intimate material without consent, or continue harassment long after a relationship has ended. Survivors frequently face barriers to reporting these crimes, including stigma, uncertainty about where to seek support, limited awareness among police and justice actors of existing legal protections, and the frequent absence of adequate legal frameworks to address tech-facilitated violence against women. 

Women in public roles, such as journalists, politicians and human rights defenders, are particularly targeted by coordinated online attacks intended to silence or discredit them.

The continued reality of femicide

The most extreme form of violence against women remains femicide, the gender-related killing of women and girls. Data gathered by WAVE delegates and national experts indicates that at least 2,871 women were victims of femicide in Europe in 2024, based on data available from 35 countries.

In countries where additional information was available, 76% of victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner, a stark reminder of the far too frequent lethal consequences of domestic violence. However, the report emphasises that these numbers likely represent minimum estimates due to the continued lack of consistent monitoring and data collection across Europe.

In many countries, femicide data is primarily collected by feminist civil society organisations rather than state institutions, reflecting ongoing gaps in official monitoring systems. 

The need for stronger political commitment

Europe has taken important steps to address violence against women in recent years, including the adoption of the EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence in 2024. However, the WAVE Country Report 2025 makes clear that legislation alone is not sufficient.

Ensuring effective protection for survivors requires sustained political commitment, adequate funding for women’s specialist services, and the full implementation of existing legal frameworks, including the Istanbul Convention.

Women’s organisations across Europe have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and dedication in supporting survivors and advocating for change. Strengthening and sustaining their work is essential if Europe is to move closer to a future where all women and girls can live free from violence.

WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe) is a feminist network of over 160 women’s specialist organisations working to end violence against women and girls across Europe. Based in Vienna, WAVE strengthens the capacity of women’s support services and advocates for survivor-centred policies through research, advocacy, and training. Its flagship publication, the WAVE Country Report, monitors the availability and quality of women’s specialist services across Europe.