According to a new report from Monaco’s official statistical agency, IMSEE, the number of formally recorded incidents involving violence against women rose in 2023 compared to similar data collected the previous year.
The latest edition of the report, which was “produced at the request and with the support of the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights”, is a compilation of official records made by the Monegasque Police Department, the Department of Justice, the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace, the Victims of Criminal Offences Help Association (AVIP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Social Services.
It comes with a warning that “given the extremely sensitive nature of the information gathered, the scope involved and the time lag in following up cases, the results presented… are broken down by entity and must be considered independently of each other… The figures only take account of the quantifiable and identified component of violence against women and may therefore be an underestimate”.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Over the course of 2023, the Monaco Police Department recorded 55 cases of violence against women. Of these 47% were committed by the victim’s partner or former partner. 58% of the women were resident in Monaco at the time of the assault and 47% of the incidents occurred at the home of the victim or the perpetrator. The average age of the victims was 42 and 45 for the perpetrators.
The Police Department also recorded three cases in which men were the victims of violence, which were all committed by their partner or ex-partner.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monaco’s Department of Justice saw 57 proceedings involving violence against women launched last year. 70% noted physical abuse while sexual assault, including rape, was identified in 26% of cases.
“To date, nine convictions have been handed down, six protection orders have been issued and 15 of the cases opened in 2023 have been dismissed,” confirms the report.
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CENTRE HOSPITALIER PRINCESSE GRACE
In total, 162 women who were admitted to the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace in 2023 said they had suffered some form of violence. 77% cited physical abuse while 14% said they had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape. Almost a third of these women were Monaco residents and the average age of victims was 38.
AVIP
41 women and five men claiming to be victims of violence contacted Monaco’s AVIP in 2023. 73% of those women were residents of the Principality and 63% said that the violence they had suffered had been at the hands of their partner or former partner. Psychological abuse was cited in 56% of the cases, 44% noted physical abuse and 37% involved some form of sexual assault, including rape.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND SOCIAL SERVICES
The final category of incidents was recorded by Monaco’s Department of Social Welfare and Social Services, which identified 10 cases of violence against women in 2023, all of which were reportedly committed by the victim’s partner or ex-partner. No men approached the Department of Social Welfare and Social Services.
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“Recording this phenomenon, expressing it in concrete terms and studying it are all essential for guiding public policy and providing effective, appropriate responses to better combat this scourge,” summarises the report. “This approach will also help to mobilise society against such violence.”
Click here to read the report in full.
Read related:
Monaco’s Committee for Women’s Rights reflects on a year of action and progress
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Photo credit: Government of Monaco