Roadmap Towards an Integrated European Response to Domestic Violence

Abstract

The main goal of the IMPRODOVA project was to find ways to optimise domestic violence intervention and prevention. We found that effective cooperation of front-line responders comes from a common understanding of the problem. When trying to understand the phenomenon thoroughly, we realised that cross-national comparison of domestic violence definitions is a complex undertaking, as different countries use varied definitions. Intimate partner violence, domestic violence and family violence are used across all countries to describe the phenomenon. However, we can observe primarily gender-based definitions in all three front-line responders sectors. One of the promising findings of our analyses is that international standards are relatively well implemented in all the partner countries. For better cooperation of all stakeholders, we developed a training platform on domestic violence and supported it by analysing the possibilities of using the digital communication platform for inter-agency collaboration to address domestic violence adequately. Multidisciplinary cooperation across the sectors in risk assessment and case documentation was mentioned by many countries as a favourable objective, resulting in more dynamic and comprehensive risk assessment processes. That leads to developing a risk assessment tool – the Domestic Violence Risk Assessment Integration Module to achieve a more integrated European response to domestic violence.