In its first report on Luxembourg, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) welcomes the “resolute measures” taken by the authorities to stop domestic violence over the past two decades, which reflect a positive political will.
GREVIO monitors how states implement the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (“Istanbul Convention”), which entered into force in Luxembourg in 2018. The report stresses the importance of Luxembourg’s 2003 law on domestic violence, which established a procedure to evict perpetrators of violence from their homes and a mechanism for the systematic support of domestic violence victims.
On the other hand, GREVIO notes “with regret” the lack of a definition of gender-based violence against women in Luxembourg – and that scant attention is paid to any of the forms of violence against women covered by the treaty other than domestic violence, even though Luxembourg has criminalised some of them.
The report also notes the lack of a national, 24/7 specialist helpline for women victims of violence, run in close co-operation with NGOs specialising in response to violence against women and domestic violence. GREVIO urges the Luxembourg authorities to set up a 24/7 specialist helpline, exclusively for women victims of gender-based violence, taking account of the experience and expertise built up by specialist services and linking up with them.
The report is published together with the comments of the Government.
