CEPOL attends EIGE Meeting on Risk Assessment of Intimate Partner Violence

On 25 and 26 October, CEPOL attended the 1^st experts consultation meeting on Risk assessment by police of intimate partner violence against women organised by the European Institute for Gender Equality in Vilnius (EIGE).

EIGE is currently making an analysis of the risk assessment procedures and risk management strategies for intimate partner violence applied by the police within the Member States.

' Police officers are often the first authority to be called when violence at home happens and in many societies trust in police needs to be raised. Together with CEPOL we want to increase the knowledge of how to better protect victims of intimate partner violence from further harm', said Virginija Langbakk, EIGE’s Director.

The meeting aimed at contributing to the development of guidelines for risk assessment and recommendations for risk management in this area whilst drawing on the main findings from:

• a legal and policy analysis in the EU Member States (EU-MS);
• current research developments;
• a comparative analysis of current practices in EU-MS;
• the list of identified risk factors for intimate partner violence against women.

In the EU, the Victims’ Rights Directive and the Istanbul Convention legally bind the Member States to ensure effective risk assessment and management practices. Consequently, CEPOL will assess in what way it can support this endeavour by addressing it via training, e.g. via webinars or in the context of relevant training as a prevention measure against re-victimisation or for the identification and prioritisation of high-risk cases.

The outcomes will be presented in a second meeting in January.