EU survey on gender-based violence
Information on data details relevant for research project proposals
- Sex: microdata files include only women
- Age: aggregated into
- 4 age groups: 18-29, 30-44, 45-64, 65-74
- 6 age groups: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74
- 11 age groups: 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74; for few countries, 11 age groups not provided.
- Variables on country of birth and citizenship: recoded as nationals, non-national but EU, non-EU nationals. For few countries, disaggregation between EU and non-EU not provided.
- Educational attainment level for the main 3 ISCED groups: less than primary, primary and lower secondary education (levels 0-2), upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (levels 3 and 4), tertiary education (levels 5-8).
- Self-defined main activity status: aggregated in 3 groups - employed, unemployed, economically inactive.
Description of the data collection
Available countries
The EU survey on gender-based violence against women and other forms of inter-personal violence (EU-GBV), coordinated by Eurostat, involved 18 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain. The Netherlands did not agree to release anonymised data for scientific purposes. Italy agreed to provide the data on GBV based on their national survey, access to the microdata could be requested directly from the Italy when available.
The data collection for the other EU countries – Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Romania, Sweden – has been coordinated jointly by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). EU-GBV survey microdata for scientific purposes are currently not available for these countries.
Scope of the survey
The aim of the EU-GBV survey is to measure gender-based violence as defined in the Istanbul Convention. To collect the data according to this definition, the survey focuses on different types of violence experienced and the relationship between victim and perpetrator. Thus, the survey also includes other forms of inter-personal violence, in addition to gender-based violence against women.
Data collection
The development of the survey on gender-based violence within the European Statistical System (ESS) started in 2016. EU members and experts from a range of relevant organisations and disciplines supported the development of the survey methodology.
In 2020, after testing the methodology, the main survey implementation started on the basis of a methodological manual produced by Eurostat. The data collection took place between 2020 and 2023, based on national timetables.
Available microdata
EU-GBV survey scientific use files contain anonymised microdata. To appropriately reduce the risk of disclosure of respondents or information about them, the anonymisation process focusses on the background variables, as the survey collects information about respondents’ personal experiences that are neither available in registers nor publicly. The differences between the original database, as defined in the chapter 4 of the methodological manual, and the scientific use files are described in the anonymisation rules.
Please also consult the anonymisation rules.
Availability of data for the public
The thematic section on gender-based violence provides an overview about the survey methodology, policy context, and the available data.
The publication on the first results disseminated by Eurostat provides some results from the survey. It gives some hints to understand the real prevalence of violence and disclosure rate as survey data itself serves as a close proxy to the real prevalence of gender based violence.