Definitions
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (a) ‘violence against women’ means all acts of gender-based violence directed against a woman or a girl because she is a woman or a girl or that affect women or girls disproportionately, that result in or are likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life; (b) ‘domestic violence’ means all acts of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit, irrespective of biological or legal family ties, or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the offender shares or has shared a residence with the victim; (c) ‘victim’ means any person, regardless of their gender, who has suffered harm directly caused by violence against women or domestic violence, including children who have suffered harm because they have witnessed domestic violence; (d) ‘hosting service provider’ means a provider of a hosting service as defined in Article 3, point (g)(iii), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065; (e) ‘intermediary service provider’ means a provider of an intermediary service as defined in Article 3, point (g), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065; (f) ‘child’ means any person below the age of 18 years; (g) ‘dependant’ means a child of the victim or any person, other than the offender or suspect, who lives in the same household as the victim and for whom the victim provides care and support; (h) ‘competent authority’ means any public authority designated under national law as competent to carry out a duty as provided for in this Directive.