Preventive measures
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to prevent violence against women and domestic violence by adopting a comprehensive multi-layered approach.
2. Preventive measures shall include conducting or supporting targeted awareness-raising campaigns or programmes aimed at persons from an early age.
Campaigns or programmes as referred to in the first subparagraph may include research and education programmes to increase awareness and understanding among the general public of the different manifestations and root causes of all forms of violence against women and domestic violence, the need for prevention and, where appropriate, the consequences of such violence, in particular on children.
Where relevant, programmes as referred to in the first subparagraph may be developed in cooperation with relevant civil society organisations, specialist services, the social partners, impacted communities and other stakeholders.
3. Member States shall make information on preventive measures, the rights of victims, access to justice and to a lawyer, and the available protection and support measures, including medical treatment, available and easily accessible to the general public, taking into account the most widely spoken languages on their territory.
4. Targeted measures shall be focused on groups at heightened risk, such as those referred to in Article 33(1).
Information for children shall be formulated in, or adapted into, a child-friendly manner. Information shall be presented in formats accessible to people with disabilities.
5. Preventive measures shall, in particular, aim to challenge harmful gender stereotypes, to promote gender equality, mutual respect and the right to personal integrity, and to encourage all persons, especially men and boys, to act as positive role models to support corresponding behaviour changes across society as a whole in line with the objectives of this Directive.
6. Preventive measures shall aim to target and reduce the demand for victims of sexual exploitation.
7. Preventive measures shall develop or increase sensitivity about the harmful practices of female genital mutilation and forced marriage, taking into account the number of persons at risk of, or affected by, those practices in the Member State concerned.
8. Preventive measures shall specifically address the cybercrimes referred to in Articles 5 to 8. In particular, Member States shall ensure that such preventive measures include the development of digital literacy skills, including critical engagement with the digital world and critical thinking to enable users to identify and address cases of cyber violence, to seek support and to prevent its perpetration.
Member States shall foster multidisciplinary and stakeholder cooperation, including among relevant intermediary service providers and competent authorities, to develop and implement measures to address the cybercrimes referred to in Articles 5 to 8.
9. Without prejudice to Article 26 of Directive 2006/54/EC, Member States shall take adequate and appropriate measures to address sexual harassment at work, where it constitutes a criminal offence under national law, in relevant national policies. Those national policies may identify and establish the targeted measures referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article for sectors where workers are the most exposed.
Specific measures to prevent rape and to promote the central role of consent in sexual relationships
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to promote changes in behavioural patterns rooted in the historically unequal power relations between women and men or based on stereotyped roles for women and men, in particular in the context of sexual relationships, sex and consent.
Measures as referred to in the first subparagraph shall be based on the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination and on fundamental rights and shall address, in particular, the central role of consent in sexual relationships, which must be given voluntarily as a result of the person’s free will.
Measures as referred to in the first subparagraph shall include awareness-raising campaigns or programmes, the making available and distribution of consent education material and the wide dissemination of information on measures of rape prevention.
Measures as referred to in the first subparagraph shall be promoted or implemented on a regular basis, including, where appropriate, in cooperation with civil society and non-governmental organisations, in particular women’s organisations.
2. Awareness-raising campaigns or programmes as referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall aim, in particular, to increase knowledge of the fact that non-consensual sex is considered a criminal offence.
3. Consent education material as referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall promote the understanding that consent must be given voluntarily as a result of a person’s free will, mutual respect, and the right to sexual integrity and bodily autonomy. Such material shall be adapted to the evolving capacity of the persons to whom it is addressed.
4. Information as referred to in this Article shall be widely disseminated with a view to informing the general public about existing measures of rape prevention, including the availability of the intervention programmes referred to in Article 37.
Training and information for professionals
1. Member States shall ensure that officials likely to come into contact with victims, such as police officers and court staff, receive both general and specialist training and targeted information to a level appropriate to their contact with victims in order to enable them to identify, prevent and address instances of violence against women or domestic violence and to treat victims in a trauma-, gender- and child-sensitive manner.
2. Member States shall promote or offer training to healthcare professionals, social services and educational staff likely to come into contact with victims in order to enable them to identify instances of violence against women or domestic violence and to direct victims to specialist support services.
3. Without prejudice to judicial independence and differences in the organisation of the judiciary across the Union, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that both general and specialist training is provided for judges and prosecutors involved in criminal proceedings and investigations with respect to the objectives of this Directive and appropriate to the functions of those judges and prosecutors. Such training shall be human-rights based, victim centred and gender, disability and child sensitive.
4. Without prejudice to the independence of the legal profession, Member States shall recommend that those responsible for the training of lawyers make available both general and specialist training to increase the awareness of lawyers of the needs of victims and to treat victims in a trauma-, gender- and child-sensitive manner.
5. Relevant health professionals, including paediatricians, gynaecologists, obstetricians, midwives and healthcare staff involved in psychological support, shall receive targeted training to identify and address, in a culturally sensitive manner, the physical, psychological and sexual consequences of female genital mutilation.
6. Persons with supervisory functions in the workplace, in both the public and private sectors, shall receive training on how to recognise, prevent and address sexual harassment at work, where it constitutes a criminal offence under national law. Those persons and employers shall receive information about the effects of violence against women and domestic violence on work and the risk of third-party violence.
7. The training activities referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 shall include training on coordinated multi-disciplinary cooperation to allow for a comprehensive and appropriate handling of referrals in cases of violence against women or domestic violence.
8. Without affecting the freedom and pluralism of the media, Member States shall encourage and support the setting up of media training activities by organisations of media professionals, media self-regulatory bodies and industry representatives or other relevant independent organisations to combat stereotypical portrayals of women and men, sexist images of women, and victim-blaming in the media, aiming to reduce the risk of violence against women or domestic violence.
Training activities as referred to in the first subparagraph may be provided by relevant civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations working with victims, the social partners and other stakeholders.
9. Member States shall ensure that the authorities competent for receiving reports of offences from victims are appropriately trained to facilitate and assist in the reporting of such offences and to avoid secondary victimisation.
10. Training activities as referred to in paragraphs 1 to 5 of this Article shall be complemented by appropriate follow up, including on the cybercrimes referred to in Articles 5 to 8, and built on the specificities of violence against women and domestic violence. Such training activities may include training on how to identify and address the specific protection and support needs of victims who face a heightened risk of violence due to their experiencing intersectional discrimination.
11. The measures under paragraphs 1 to 9 shall be implemented without prejudice to judicial independence, the self-organisation of regulated professions and differences in the organisation of the judiciary across the Union.
Intervention programmes
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that targeted intervention programmes are established to prevent and minimise the risk of committing violence against women or domestic violence or of reoffending.
2. The intervention programmes referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made available for the participation of persons who have committed an offence of violence against women or domestic violence and may be made available for the participation of other persons who are assessed as being at risk of committing such offences. That may include persons who feel the need to participate, for example because they fear they might commit any offence of violence against women or domestic violence.
3. Member States shall ensure that a rape offender is encouraged to participate in an intervention programme as referred to in paragraph 1.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
