27
November
2025

Places of Care = Places of Safety? Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions

This report looks at the breadth and depth of violence and neglect faced by people with disabilities living in institutions. It highlights the shortcomings by EU Member States in preventing violence and protecting those who are at a higher risk of experiencing it, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Based on research across all EU Member States and FRA observer candidate countries, the report calls for better protection, stronger prevention of violence, and clear accountability. It urges the EU and its Member States to implement their obligations around equality and fundamental rights.
Overview

Violence against persons with disabilities in institutions remains widespread yet largely underreported across Europe. Acts of violence include a wide spectrum of exploitative, abusive and degrading acts that contravene EU and EU Member States’ obligations under international and European human rights law. Protection against violence is grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the primary human rights treaty for the equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities. The CRPD obliges States Parties to ensure that the rights to life, freedom from violence, autonomy, liberty and security are upheld within institutions. The absolute prohibition of torture and obligations to prevent torture and investigate torture allegations are enshrined in the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. States are required to protect against torture and ill treatment in all contexts, including in institutions – understood as segregated settings where people live together without choice and lack control over their lives. 

The Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) enshrine the foundational values and human rights standards of the EU through a combination of fundamental rights, principles and secondary law, and through alignment with international human rights instruments such as the CRPD, which is ratified by the EU and all Member States. 

Collectively, these instruments establish a robust protection framework obliging the EU and its Member States to uphold the right of persons with disabilities to freedom and protection from violence and to ensure accountability within institutions.

This report aims to support national authorities in their efforts to uphold their state’s legal obligations to protect against, prevent and respond to violence against persons with disabilities in institutions. The report’s evidence and recommendations are based on sociolegal analysis that draws on data from desk research in the 27 Member States and in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia and on qualitative research from 10 Member States (Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Slovenia).

In this report:

  • Key findings and FRA opinions
  • Introduction
  1. Places of case = Places of safety?
  2. Legal instruments for the protection against, prevention of and responses to violence against persons with disabilities
  3. National legal and policy frameworks
  4. Prevention of violence through monitoring
  5. Responses to violence through ensuring access to justice
  • Annex I: Terminology
  • Annex II: Methodology