"Belgian women suffer partner abuse"

BRUSSELS:Figures from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reveal that a third of women in the EU have been assaulted physically or sexually. At 36% for Belgium the figure is above the European average.

The Belgian figure is lower than in neighbouring countries: the Netherlands (45%), France and Britain (44%), Luxembourg (38%) and Germany (35%). The highest levels of violence against women occur in the Nordic countries: Denmark (52%), Finland (47%) and Sweden (46%). The country with the lowest number of women who admit to being a victim is Austria (20%).

5% of women in the EU say that they have been raped, while a fifth told researchers that they had been felt up or kissed against their will, often by a superior or colleague at work. Across the EU 22% of women admit to being the victim of partner abuse. At 25% the figure for Belgium is higher than the EU average.The research involved a sample of 42,000 women across the EU.