The role of the police in administrative data collection on intimate partner violence.
Date: 2017-02-04
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: data collection, domestic violence, police, sexual discrimination, sexual violence, source of information, woman, women's rights

The role of the police  
in administrative data collection 
on intimate partner violence

Main challenges for data collection

 n Lack of legal definitions 
for  ‘intimate partner 
violence’ and ‘partner’

n Lack of breakdown by the
relationship between the
victim and the perpetrator

term 

Intimate partner violence is not recog-
nised as a specific offence in most Mem-
ber  States.  Member  States’  legislation 
also  defines 
‘partner’ 
the 
differently,  excluding  informal  relation-
ships  in  a  number  of  cases.  This  has 
implications 
for  administrative  data 
collection,  as  Member  States  use  legal 
rather  than  statistical  concepts  for  data 
collection purposes. 

on 

the 

Information 
relationship 
between the victim and the perpetrator 
identify 
to 
in  order 
is  necessary 
offences  committed  by  an 
intimate 
partner. However, in most cases there is 
no  systematic  recording  by  the  police 
of the relationship between the victim 
and  the  perpetrator  or  the  victim’s 
sex and age.

n  Limited recorded data on 
specific forms of intimate 
partner violence, in 
particular economic violence

n Potential bias when the

relationship between the
victim and the perpetrator
is recorded by hand

Istanbul  Convention 

recognises 
The 
four  different  forms  of  intimate  partner 
violence: physical,  sexual,  psychological 
(1).  In  the  majority  of 
and  economic 
Member  States,  physical,  sexual  and 
psychological  violence  are  recognised 
and  penalised,  with 
fewer  Member 
States  criminalising  economic violence. 
However,  when  it  comes  to  police data 
collection,  data  is  rarely  collected  for  all 
forms of violence recognised by law. 

and 

the  perpetrator 

When  the  relationship  between  the 
is 
victim 
recorded,  this  is  often  done  by  hand 
and  therefore  cannot  be  statistically 
processed.  Furthermore,  there  is  little 
training  available  for  police  officers 
(who most often are not specialised) on 
what  intimate  partner  violence  is  and 
how  to  recognise  and  record  such 
incidents. 

Why do we need 
administrative 
data on intimate 
partner violence?

Intimate partner violence is a recurrent 
form  of  violence  affecting  women  in 
the  European  Union.  Efforts to combat 
require  an 
this 
understanding  of  its  scale  and  nature 
through  reliable,  systematic  and  com-
parable data. 

form  of  violence 

Data 
is  necessary  to  measure  the 
prevalence  and  consequences  of  such 
violence, to monitor state responses to 
it and to evaluate policies combating it. 

fight 

The  requirement  for  high  quality 
administrative data is also in line with 
States' 
international 
Member 
violence 
to 
commitments 
against  women,  as  defined 
in  
Directive  2012/29/EU 
(the  Victim‘s 
Rights  Directive)  and  the  Council  of 
Europe  Convention  on  preventing 
and  combating  violence  against 
women  and  domestic  violence  (the 
Istanbul  Convention). 

What is the role 
of the police? 

The  police  play  a  crucial  role 
in 
collecting  data  in  the  early  stages  of 
the criminal  justice  process.  Accurate 
police  data  is  essential  for  grasping 
the total  number  of  intimate  partner 
violence  incidents  reported,  even  if 
some  of  these  are  not  recognised  as 
crimes. 

also 

data 

Data  from  the  justice  sector  tends  to 
focus  more  on  the  perpetrator,  while 
provide 
can 
police 
information  on  the  victim.  Police 
data  reveals  how  many  recorded 
crimes  do  not  reach  court  and  the 
effectiveness  of  policies  meant  to 
protect victims of violence.

(1) Intimate partner violence and its four different forms are recognised under the definition of domestic violence in the Istanbul Convention.

Number of EU Member States that can populate the indicators

To support Member States in reporting on intimate partner violence under the Victims’ Rights Directive and the Istanbul Con-
vention, the European Institute for Gender Equality has developed nine indicators based on uniform statistical definitions that 
should be populated with data collected by the police. 

1. Annual number of 
women (aged 18 and 
over) victims of intimate 
partner violence 
committed by men 
(aged 18 and over), as 
recorded by police (1)

7 9
12

4. Annual number of 
women (aged 18 and 
over) victims of physical 
intimate partner 
violence committed by 
men (aged 18 and over), 
as recorded by police (3)

12

7. Annual number of 
women (aged 18 and 
over) victims of eco-
nomic intimate partner 
violence committed by 
men (aged 18 and over), 
as recorded by police (3)

2
2

10
6

3

3

2. Annual number of 
reported offences 
related to intimate 
partner violence against 
women committed by 
men (aged 18 
and over) (1)

5. Annual number of 
women (aged 18 and 
over) victims of psycho-
logical intimate partner 
violence committed by 
men (aged 18 and over), 
as recorded by police

8. Annual number 
of women (aged 18 and 
over) victims reporting 
rape committed by men 
(aged 18 and over), as 
recorded by police

11

8
9

4
1

9
5

4
42

Number of Member States that can populate with exact data

Number of Member States that can partly populate the indicator using approximate data

Number of Member States that cannot populate the indicator

3. Annual number of 
men (aged 18 and over) 
perpetrators of intimate 
partner violence against 
women (and percentage 
of male population that 
are perpetrators) (2)

6. Annual number 
of women (aged 18 
and over) victims of 
sexual intimate partner 
violence committed by 
men (aged 18 and over), 
as recorded by police

9. Women victims of 
intimate femicide (aged 
18 and over) commit-
ted by a male intimate 
partner (aged 18 and 
over), as a share of the 
women victims of homi-
cide (aged 18 and over)

11

7
10

4
1

11
3

7
4 

7
1

(1)  The UK has three different jurisdictions, each with their own data collection processes: England and Wales (EW), Northern Ireland (NI) and Scotland (SC). Approximate 
data is available for the UK: EW cannot populate the indicators 1 and 2, NI can partly populate the indicators using approximate data, SC can populate with exact data.
(2)  Approximate data is available for the UK: EW cannot populate the indicator, NI and SC  can partly populate the indicator.
(3)  Approximate data is available for the UK: EW and SC cannot populate indicators 4 and 7, NI can partly populate the indicators using approximate data.

Step-by-step 
recommendations 
Step  1: Finding common 
ground
It  is  necessary  to  select  the  offences  that 
would  form  the  basis  for  administrative 
data  collection  on  intimate  partner  vio-
lence. A full mapping of these offences in 
each country, in line with the International 
Classification  of  Crime  for  Statistical  Pur-
poses (ICCS), is a vital first step for making 
data comparable across the EU. 

Step  2: Recording the 
necessary information

To  increase  data  comparability,  it  is  im-
portant for the police to provide the same  
breakdowns, in particular the relationship 
between the victim and the perpetrator as 

that 

well as their sex. It is recommended that 
all  Member 
cannot 
States 
provide  full  data  adapt  their  recording 
systems so as to provide information on 
all  offences  across 
their  national 
legislation  including  all  the  necessary 
breakdowns.  This  would  also  provide 
of 
the  different 
data  on 
intimate  partner  violence,  creating  a 
more 
this 
phenomenon.

complete 

picture 

forms 

of 

Step  3:  Publishing  data and 
metadata 
Few countries make data publicly avail-
able  with  the  breakdowns  needed  to 
intimate 
response 
monitor 
partner violence. It is recommended that 
Member States invest in the publication 
of  data,  ideally  in  the  form  of  dynamic 
databases or detailed cross tabulations. 
Considering the diversity of crime statis-

the 

to 

tics  across  the  EU,  this  should  be 
accompanied  by  metadata  in  order  to 
make  it  usable.  EIGE  has  proposed  a 
reporting tool which will be useful in this 
regard, as it will inform stakeholders on 
the type of metadata to provide. 

Step  4:  Creating synergies 
between the police and justice 
sectors 
In  order  to  fully  assess  initiatives  to  com-
bat intimate partner violence, it is impor-
tant  that  the  police  and  justice  sectors 
come  together  to  provide  reliable  and 
complementary  data.  An  efficient  way  of 
doing  so  is  by  integrating  databases  and 
the 
recording 
criminal  justice  chain.  This  will  create 
synergies, 
comparability 
challenges and discrepancies in recording 
practices,  and  it  will  also  eliminate  the 
duplication of work for the justice sector.

throughout 

overcome 

systems 

European Institute for Gender Equality 
The  European  Institute  for  Gender  Equality  (EIGE)  is  the  EU  knowledge  centre 
on gender equality. EIGE supports policymakers and all relevant institutions in 
their  efforts  to  make  equality  between  women  and  men  a  reality  for  all 
Europeans  by  providing  them  with  specific  expertise  and  comparable  and 
reliable data on gender equality in Europe. 

European Institute for Gender Equality 
Gedimino pr. 16 
LT-01103 Vilnius 
LITHUANIA 

Contact details

http://eige.europa.eu 

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twitter.com/eurogender 

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eurogender.eige.europa.eu 

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