Types of Violence – Violence.lu

Domestic violence

Domestic violence covers two types of violence:

conjugal, relational or love violence, i.e., violence between two intimate partners of the same or opposite sex, married, in a partnership or in a common-law relationship, which takes place at any time during the relationship, including at the time of the break-up or after the relationship has ended, regardless of whether the partners share or have shared the same home;
domestic violence, i.e., violence between two or more adults and/or minors with a family or non-family relationship (traditional and blended family: grandparents, parents, children, siblings, friends) living together in a family setting.

It should be stressed that not all cases of violence are the same.

In some cases, one partner wants to have power and control over the other partner and uses different means to achieve this, including different forms of violence, even physical violence.
In other cases, the violence is reciprocal between partners, i.e., they are violent towards each other.

It is also important to know that domestic violence can be an isolated act or a series of acts that can be repeated, escalated and made worse. Moreover, domestic violence is not limited to physical violence but also includes psychological violence, sexual violence, including rape, economic violence and social violence.

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Don’t forget that your children — as direct or indirect witnesses of violence — are victims too!

These different forms of violence are condemned by the Penal Code. When they occur in the context of predefined domestic violence, the penalties are more severe (e.g. aggravated circumstances). Some forms of domestic violence can also constitute gender-based violence.

The amended law of 8 September 2003 on domestic violence states that any person who endangers or repeatedly endangers the physical integrity of a person with whom he or she is cohabiting in a family setting may be expelled from the family home for 14 days.

The police will intervene if they are called by the person who is being abused, a direct or indirect witness, or even the person who is abusing. They will collect evidence on the spot and inform the prosecutor who will decide whether or not to expel the person.

If the prosecutor grants the eviction, the evicted person is prohibited from

returning to the family home for 14 days ;
making contact with the protected person, either directly or through another person (family, friends, etc.);
approaching the protected person.

In this context, the police have several tasks:

they collect the evicted person’s keys and opening devices of the home and remove him/her from the family home;
they notify the assistance service for victims of domestic violence, SAVVD, which contacts the protected person(s) of adult age to help and assist them;
they notify the two services for assisting minor victims of domestic violence, PSYea and Alternatives, which contact the protected person(s) so that they can provide the necessary supervision and support for the minor children present in the family home;
they notify the service for domestic violence, Riicht Eraus, which the evicted person must contact during the first seven days of the eviction order. If no contact is made, the Riicht Eraus contacts the evicted person starting on the 8^th day;
they provide the protected person and the evicted person with a copy of the eviction notice and written information on the rights and obligations of each party in connection with the eviction and on the above-mentioned competent services and facilities for women and men.

The evicted person can appeal to the judge against the eviction order.

The eviction order may be extended by the judge for up to three months at the request of the protected person.

If the public prosecutor does not grant the eviction:

the police give the parties present a sheet informing them about the domestic violence situation and the services that can help them.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Physical violence

Physical violence is an act by a person that results in or is likely to result in physical harm, such as hitting and injuring, to another person through the use of physical force. It may also result in trauma, psychological damage, developmental problems or voluntary or involuntary death. Physical violence can be gender-based violence.

In the context of domestic violence, cases of physical violence can lead to expulsion under the amended Domestic Violence Act of 8 September 2003.

Articles 393 to 409 of the Penal Code criminalise physical violence and provide for aggravating circumstances in cases of domestic violence.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Psychological violence

Psychological violence refers to all behaviours, words, acts and gestures exerted by one person against another person that undermine their psychological or mental integrity and are aimed at directly attacking their identity, self-esteem, emotions and feelings of being loved or not loved and their self-confidence. It can be manifested through aggression, violence, manipulation, coercion and threats and can result in psychological trauma. Psychological violence can be gender-based violence.

In the context of domestic violence, cases of psychological violence can lead to expulsion under the amended Domestic Violence Act of 8 September 2003.

Various articles of the Penal Code refer to psychological violence, namely articles 260-1 to 260-4 (acts of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment), 327 to 330-1 (threats by gestures or emblems/verbal or written threats), 371-1 (non-representation of the child), 391bis (abandonment of family), 442-2, 443 (defamation or slander), 448 (insult as a misdemeanour), 561 (insult as a contravention), 563 and 564 (assault or minor violence). For some forms of psychological violence, there are aggravating circumstances in the case of domestic violence.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Sexual violence, including rape

Sexual violence covers acts ranging from verbal harassment to forced penetration, as well as a wide variety of forms of coercion ranging from social pressure and intimidation to physical force.

Any sexual act committed without the victim’s consent, with or without violence, coercion, and/or threat, as well as any comment, behaviour or advance of a sexual nature aimed at imposing one’s own desire on another person, is considered sexual violence. Sexual violence, including rape, violates the victim’s human rights. The vast majority of victims are women, girls and boys, but men can be victims as well. Sexual violence is gender-based violence.

No one can force a sexual act on you, regardless of whether it is oral, gestural or written behaviour; it involves actions or words that you do not want and have not consented to.

In the context of domestic violence, cases of sexual violence can lead to expulsion under the amended Domestic Violence Act of 8 September 2003.

Sexual violence and rape are criminalised under Articles 372 and 375 of the Penal Code. Aggravating circumstances are provided for when they take place in the context of domestic violence.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation is a serious violation of a person’s human rights. All procedures resulting in partial or total removal of the external genitalia of women or girls and/or any other mutilation of the female genitalia, performed for non-therapeutic purposes, are considered female genital mutilation. The victims are women and girls. Female genital mutilation is gender-based violence.

Female genital mutilation cannot be justified by any tradition, practice, custom or religion. It is prohibited, including the facilitation, promotion and attempt to commit it. These acts are punishable under Article 409 bis of the Penal Code. The latter also provides for a certain number of aggravating circumstances, in particular when the victim is a minor or otherwise vulnerable; when the mutilation results in the death of the victim even without intention to kill; when force, threats, coercion, abduction or deception are used; when the mutilation is committed by the victim’s ascendants or a person having authority over him or her; or when it results in a serious illness or permanent work disability. Article 401 bis of the Penal Code provides for an increase in penalties in the case of serious mutilation resulting from violence committed against a child under the age of fourteen.

The fact that a Luxembourg citizen or a person resident in Luxembourg mutilates or causes a woman or girl to be mutilated is also criminalised by the Code of Criminal Procedure in Article 5-1.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Forced marriage and partnership

Forced marriage is the act of marrying or partnering a person against their will. These are often arranged marriages where the family forces the marriage or partnership on their child. The majority of victims are girls and women, but boys and men can also be victims. Forced marriage and partnership is gender-based violence.

Any marriage or partnership requires the mutual, free and voluntary consent of both parties. Any union between two persons, whether civil, religious or customary, entered into on the basis of threats and violence and without the consent of both parties is considered a forced marriage.

The Penal Code criminalises forced marriage and partnership in Article 389.

The fact that a Luxembourg citizen or a person residing in Luxembourg is forced to marry or enters into a civil partnership is also incriminated by the Code of Criminal Procedure in article 5-1.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Forced abortion and sterilisation

Every woman is free to live her sexuality without procreating, to be pregnant or not, to continue a pregnancy or not, to have a child or not; this is a fundamental right and the first condition of women’s equality with men. The victims of forced abortion and sterilisation are women and girls. It is gender-based violence

Article 348 of the Penal Code criminalises forced abortion. It states that: “Anyone who, by food, drink, medication, violence, manoeuvres or any other means, intentionally causes or attempts to cause an abortion in a pregnant woman or a woman assumed to be pregnant who has not consented to the abortion, shall be punished by imprisonment for five to ten years.”

Article 349 of the Penal Code criminalises abortion caused by the voluntary exercise of violence but without the intention to produce it, with aggravating circumstances if there was premeditation or knowledge of the state of pregnancy.

The fact that a Luxembourg citizen or a person resident in Luxembourg commits a forced abortion is also incriminated by the Code of Criminal Procedure in article 5-1.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Harassment and sexual harassment

Harassment is a form of violence by which one person seeks to dominate and intimidate another person in order to degrade his or her living conditions or physical or psychological health. There are two forms of harassment:

Moral harassment: the repeated and deliberate imposition of comments and behaviour on a person which are intended to undermine their dignity, to cause a deterioration in their living conditions or physical or mental health and to create an intimidating, hostile or humiliating environment. Harassment may be based on the person’s sex or gender identity. In this case, it is discrimination on the basis of sex.
Sexual harassment: the imposition of abusive or offensive physical, verbal, written or gestural comments or behaviour on a person based on their sex or gender identity for the purpose of degrading and humiliating that person or of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation in order to obtain, or not obtain, an act of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment is discrimination on the basis of sex.

Harassment can occur in all spheres of private, public and/or professional life and can also take place online. Cyber-bullying is committed via mobile phones, chat rooms and social networks, and elsewhere online.

As discrimination, mobbing and sexual harassment are prohibited by Article 454 et seq. of the Penal Code. Article 442-2 of the Penal Code makes obsessive harassment a criminal offence. Voyeurism is punishable under the new Article 385 ter of the Penal Code.

The Labour Code legislates against sexual and moral harassment in the workplace and prohibits any direct or indirect discrimination based on gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, membership or non-membership, real or assumed, and on “nationality”, race or ethnic group, religion or beliefs (Art. L.162-12, L.241-1(1) , L.245-2 to L.245-8, L.251-1). The same applies to the amended law of 16 April 1979 establishing the general statute for State civil servants and the amended law of 24 December 1985 establishing the general statute for municipal civil servants.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Honour Crimes

Honour crime is a crime (murder, assassination, homicide) perpetrated by a person to avenge his or her honour. It is intended to punish a person for transgressing cultural, religious, social or traditional norms or customs. Such an act is often justified as a reaction to the victim’s perceived behaviour in bringing dishonour to a family or breaking a ‘code of honour’. These crimes are often committed by members of the victim’s family or immediate community and are often premeditated. The majority of victims are women and girls. Honour killing is gender-based violence.

No practice, culture, custom, religion, tradition or so-called ‘honour’ can justify such a crime. Honour crimes are punishable under the Penal Code.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

Human trafficking

Trafficking in human beings is the recruitment, and/or transfer, and/or harbouring of a person, or the taking, passing or transferring of control over a person for the purpose of exploiting them either sexually or through labour (domestic slavery, servitude, manual labour, agricultural work, catering, seasonal work). Trafficking may also occur in the context of forced begging, organ removal, or for the purpose of forcing a person to commit crimes or offences against their will. It is a violation of fundamental rights and a serious form of violence. Human trafficking can constitute gender-based violence.

Trafficking is criminalised by the Penal Code in Articles 382-1 and 382-2. The use of prostitution of a trafficked, vulnerable or minor person is also criminalised in Articles 382-6 to 382-8. The use of means such as threats, violence, abduction, deception, abuse of authority, the victim’s vulnerability, and the offer of payments to obtain the consent of a person with authority over another person, constitute aggravating circumstances.

The victim’s consent does not exonerate the perpetrator or accomplice from criminal responsibility and is not a mitigating circumstance.

Whether you are experiencing violence, witnessing violence or resorting to violence yourself, know that you are not alone. You can break the cycle of violence and get help to remove yourself from the situation.

New forms of violence

New forms of sexual violence are developing or expanding with the emergence of social networks and new technologies, including:

Voyeurism or “upskirting” is behaviour aimed at spying on a person’s private parts, whether they are covered or not by clothes or underwear, via any means, without the person’s knowledge or awareness and without their consent. Voyeurism can occur both in closed spaces, such as changing rooms and toilets, and in open spaces, such as public transport.

Voyeurism is a criminal offence and is a serious form of sexual and gender-based violence, affecting mostly women and girls.

The new article 385 ter of the Penal Code punishes “the use of any means to see a person’s private parts or underwear which the person has hidden from the view of third parties, either by clothing or presence in a closed space, without the person’s knowledge or consent”.