As EU countries grapple with a new wave of Covid-19, police, media and NGOs continue to report on increasing rates of violence against women and girls. This ‘shadow pandemic’ has a devastating effect on the rights of women and girls across Europe. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) call on the EU and all Member States to redouble their efforts to protect women's rights and mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with concrete action.

"Women and girls across Europe continue to face violence. The pandemic has made this flagrant human rights abuse even worse, as lockdowns and economic uncertainty leave many women living in continuous fear," said FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty. "Authorities at all levels need to work better together to effectively protect women and put an end to violence and abuse."

“Violence against women happens in every EU country. We need to work together to create societies where violence is eradicated. We need to put laws in place that really work to stop violence against women. And we need to collect better data to monitor the situation all the time,” said EIGE Director Carlien Scheele.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, women’s shelters and non-governmental organisations have been reporting a surge in violence against women. Shelter and counselling staff have been overwhelmed due to increased demand during lockdowns, as EIGE shows in its 2021 report.

FRA also highlighted the reality of increases in domestic violence in some of its Bulletins on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on fundamental rights.

The worsening Coronavirus situation is likely to see similar patterns emerge once again. (...)