Credit: MEGA

On Wednesday 8 June 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of Equality between Women and Men, Taina Bofferding, presented to the press the report of the Committee for cooperation between professionals in the field of combating violence of the year 2021.

The report provides a collection of statistics presented on domestic violence by the various bodies represented on the Committee, namely the public prosecutor's office at the district courts of Luxembourg and Diekirch, the Grand-Ducal police, the assistance services to victims of domestic violence (SAVVD, PSYea and ALTERNATIVES) as well as the service supporting perpetrators of domestic violence (Riicht Eraus).

The report found that 2021 is the second consecutive year in which Luxembourg has been able to avoid surge in cases of domestic violence linked to the health crisis and the first year since 2017 in which a drop in police interventions and evictions has been recorded.

A stable situation

During 2021, the Grand Ducal police carried out 917 interventions (with or without eviction), which represents a decrease of 2.76% compared to 2020 (943).

The number of evictions authorised by the prosecution was 249, compared to 278 in 2020 – a decrease of 10.43%.

On average, the Grand Ducal police intervened 76 (78 in 2020) times and carried out 21 (23 in 2020) evictions per month.

Police interventions and evictions (2012-2021)

The number of victims listed in the context of police interventions was stable compared to 2020. While this figure was 1,697 in 2020, the victims increased by fifteen to 1,712 in 2021.

  • 60.69% of the victims were female (60.28% in 2020) and 39.31% male (39.72% in 2020).
  • 389 victims were minors compared to 356 in 2020, which represents an increase compared to 2020.
  • The age groups of 35 to 40, 40 to 45 and over 50 were the most affected, and represented 39.72% of all cases. 16.76% of the victims were over 50 years old.

In 2021, the Grand Ducal police counted 1,365 perpetrators, which represents an increase of nine (up 0.65%) compared to 2020.

  • 67.69% of perpetrators were male and 32.31% female (in 2020: 70.35% male; 29.65% female).
  • 3.81% of the perpetrators were minors, and were placed through a temporary custody measure under the law of 10 August 1992 relating to the protection of youth only applicable to minors under the age of eighteen.
  • The most represented age categories among the perpetrators were those of 30 to 35, 35 to 40 and 40 to 45, which alone represented 43.96% of perpetrators. 19.19% of the perpetrators were over age 50.

The Luxembourg and Diekirch public prosecutor's office received 1,420 cases of domestic violence, while the Grand-Ducal police intervened 917 times in 2021. The difference of 503 files results from the prosecution's consideration of other offenses beyond of article 409 of the Penal Code within the framework of its obligations in terms of statistics as provided for in article III of the amended law of 8 September 2003 on domestic violence.

In 2021, the Assistance Service for Victims of Domestic Violence (Service d'assistance aux victimes de violence domestique - SAVVD) made a total of 327 consultations and 3,304 telephone calls to assist victims in the context of the 249 eviction files communicated to the service on the basis of the amended law on domestic violence of 2003.

The Riicht Eraus service (Consultation Service for Perpetrators of Domestic Violence) carried out a total of 2,000 consultations in the context of evictions and other channels. The perpetrators in charge differ in fact by their way of access which can be of a voluntary nature, under judicial constraint (in the context of a suspended probation, provisional release, judicial control, warning, judgment, injunction of the court of the youth) or as part of the 249 expulsions in 2021.

In view of these figures, Minister Bofferding stressed: "Statistically speaking, fewer cases were registered, whereby we expanded the offer and at no point had a gap in our care. One is numbers and the other is the people behind these numbers who are experiencing violence in their daily lives at home. Our aim is to take care of every single victim, by constantly adapting our offer to new situations and at the same time working intensively with the perpetrators to interrupt the cycle of violence. Prevention is an essential component as well as awareness raising. Domestic violence affects us all because it is an overall societal problem. Closing your eyes or talking a little is the worst option. Do not look away".