Mouvement pour l'Égalité entre les Femmes et les Hommes
Violence against women
The term “violence against women” should be understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women, and refers to all
acts of gender-based violence that cause, or are likely to cause, harm or suffering to women of a physical, sexual, psychological or
economic, including the threat of such acts, coercion or deprivation
arbitrary freedom, whether in public or private life.
Preventing danger in violence by an (ex)intimate partner - Facing a victim
The term “domestic violence” refers to all acts of physical, sexual,
psychological or economic issues that arise within the family or home or between former or current spouses or partners, regardless of whether the perpetrator of
the offence shares or has shared the same residence as the victim.
Gender
Gender refers to socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributions that a given society considers appropriate for women and men.
Violence against women based on gender
The term “violence against women based on gender” refers to any violence against a woman because she is a woman or disproportionately affects women.
Victim
The term «victim» refers to any natural person who is subject to the behaviours
specified in violence against women and domestic violence.
Woman
The term “woman” includes girls under the age of 18.
Violence within the couple (VSC)
In 2006, an inter-ministerial conference adopted a single definition for Belgium
of domestic violence. It is this definition that has been the frame of reference ever since
public authorities in this field, both at federal and regional level in Belgium :
“Intimate relationship violence is a set of behaviours, acts,
attitudes of one of the partners or ex-partners that aim to control and dominate
the other. They include verbal assaults, threats or constraints,
physical, sexual, economic or repeated, affecting
the integrity of others and even their socio-professional integration. These violence
affect not only the victim, but also other family members, including children. They are a form of domestic violence. It appears that in the vast majority, the perpetrators of this violence are men and the victims of women. Violence in intimate relationships is manifestation, in the sphere
private, unequal power relations between women and men still at work
in our society.”