Administrative data is information gathered by institutions during their routine operations.

For violence against women, administrative data can include, among others, data on victims, offences, and the perpetrators of violence against women.

Because of this, administrative data is key for assessing the effectiveness of how public services respond to the needs of women who have experienced violence, and to monitor trends over time. 

Having a comprehensive analysis of administrative data – including the nature and prevalence of violence against women – can support in creating more targeted policies to combat violence against women.

Data on violence against women can be obtained from different sources, including via sample surveys (as this is one of the closest proxies to real prevalence or incident rates), or from administrative institutions dealing with reported cases of violence against women such as the police, justice, or health and social services.

Official statistics are usually compiled and produced by National Statistical Offices and are based on data from surveys and/or administrative sources.

However, these capture only a fraction of the actual prevalence and incidence of violence against women. This is because of the barriers that may make it difficult for women to report violence; for example, a lack of legal representation may discourage some women from reporting to the police.

The difference between actual prevalence of violence, and disclosed violence recorded by sample surveys can be known as the ‘grey zone’, as illustrated below.

  1. Actual prevalence & incidence of violence

    Grey zone

  2. Disclosed violence

    EU GBV survey

  3. Reported violence

    Administrative data on GBV

EIGE’s work on administrative data collection

The elimination of gender-based violence is a key goal of the EU and an important area of work for the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). Since 2014, EIGE has worked continuously to improve the availability of national administrative data on gender-based violence in the EU.

EIGE is dedicated to collecting comprehensive data on intimate partner violence, domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, such as rape and femicide.

Here is a timeline of EIGE’s administrative data collection work, starting from what the Agency is currently doing:

  1. 2025

    In 2025, country profiles based on our second EU-wide data collection exercise were published, accompanied by a methodological report and a policy brief on the importance of collecting sex-disaggregated administrative data on violence against women. Further publications include an analytical report and a brief on femicide. 

    Moreover, 2025 marked the start of the implementation of the Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence. 

    In the context of Art. 44, EIGE is being tasked with setting up a coordination system for data collection in support of EU Members States, and with developing a common methodology for collecting the data, as required by the Directive.

  2. 2023 - 2024

    In 2023, EIGE launched a second EU-wide data collection exercise using the refined indicators and developed methodological guidance to support national data providers. For most indicators, data was available separately for female victims and total victims, enabling an assessment of gender disparities in victimization rates. 

    The second data collection exercise also proposed a new visualisation of the Member States data. In addition, EIGE worked on developing a conceptual and measurement framework on cyberviolence.

  3. 2021 - 2022

    To accommodate the lack of national administrative data on intimate partner violence, EIGE’s 13 indicators, originally developed in 2017-2018, were refined to collect data on intimate partner violence, domestic violence and violence that occurs in ‘any relationship’.

  4. 2019 - 2020

    Between 2019 and 2020, EIGE assessed the progress made at national level in improving data availability to provide uniform data on intimate partner violence and enhance EU data comparability.

    Moreover, EIGE used the 13 indicators to carry out its first EU-wide data collection exercise on these forms of violence. Findings showed that intimate partner violence is not always visible in national administrative data. In many Member States, intimate partner violence is considered a form of domestic violence.

  5. 2017 - 2018

    In 2017 and 2018, EIGE built on its previous efforts to improve police and justice data on intimate partner violence against women in the European Union.

    A set of 13 indicators to collect national administrative data on intimate partner violence, rape and femicide from the police and justice sectors in EU Member States was developed and a feasibility study was conducted.

  6. 2016 - 2017

    The work on terminology and indicators for data collection on rape, femicide and intimate partner violence: EU-wide terminology and indicators was conducted.

  7. 2014

    In 2014, EIGE carried out the mapping of the current status and potential of administrative data sources on gender-based violence in the EU, with a focus on police and justice sector data.

How is the EU closing data gaps?

The need for better collection of data related to violence against women has been recognised by the EU, the Council of Europe and, at international level, by the United Nations in their commitment to eradicate violence against women. The lack of available and comparable data in this area in the EU is highlighted by:

The recent EU Directive 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the EU on combating violence against women and domestic violence (14 May 2024) now requires Member States to collect data on violence against women as per its Article 44.

Keep reading