Promising Practice

Survey on Safety in Luxembourg 2020

Enquête sur la Sécurité au Luxembourg 2020
The survey on safety is a victimisation survey that was launched on 1 October 2020 and covered the population of people aged 16 or over living in the Grand Duchy. It collected detailed information on crimes and offences affecting this population over the last five years, during the last year and throughout their lifetime.
Country
Luxembourg
Type
Institutional and structural guidelines
Build up data hub
Facilitate effective use
Operational guidelines
Ensure comprehensiveness
Ensure regular and timely data collection
Enhance validity and reliability
Ensure representativeness
Improve comparability
Category
Age
Disability
Gender identity or expression
Racial or ethnic origin
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
Includes multiple / intersectional discrimination

 


In this page:


Why was the practice needed?

By providing data on different types of theft (burglaries, vehicle theft, theft with or without violence, etc.), the safety survey is an important source of information on crime in Luxembourg. In contrast to the last safety survey, in 2013, the focus of the 2020 survey is on different forms of experiences of violence.

The survey questionnaire has been prepared based on the 2013 survey questionnaire, taking advantage of the experience gained from the EU Safety Survey project, the European Crime and Safety Survey (in which Luxembourg participated in 2004/2005) and the work of the Eurostat Task Force to develop a questionnaire on gender-based violence. In addition, the recommendations of the Istanbul Convention were taken into account.

The survey aims to measure the level of satisfaction of the population with the work of the police and the courts. In addition, it asks questions about people's feeling of safety, their exposure to drug problems or vandalism in their neighbourhoods, and measures people may have taken to ensure their safety.

How was it implemented?

The questionnaire was constructed considering the latest scientific findings and international recommendations, and parts of the questionnaire were tested in cognitive interviews and/or discussed in expert groups. Both the questions and the general procedure were tested in a quantitative pilot project.

The respondents could fill out the questionnaire online or answer the questions by telephone. This mixed-methods approach aimed to provide respondents with sufficient anonymity and flexibility without excluding elderly people or those with poorer internet skills.

The survey was conducted in five languages to reach people who do not yet have a sufficient command of the country’s official languages.

To further increase the security of the data, an elaborate pseudonymisation technique was used. All identifiers were automatically deleted when the questionnaire was sent. There is no link between the sample and the data. The information about the sample was irrevocably deleted, as mentioned above.

The sample was drawn randomly, so the results are representative. It is relatively large (6,000 participants). The data were cleaned and checked in large-scale coherence tests. To correct any sampling errors, responses were also weighted.

Peers of the informants were involved in analysing the data and publishing the results.

Outputs

Luxembourg’s national statistical institute, STATEC, is exclusively responsible for the evaluation and target group-specific publication of the results (scientific conference, round tables, lectures in the ministries, journal articles, etc.). STATEC is also in close contact with various ministries (Ministry of Equality between Women and Men, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice), the police, the judiciary and representatives from the field (support organisations for victims of violence). The results can be used in the context of evidence-based policymaking. They can be used in sensitisation measures or prevention offers.

Results:

Key success factors

This background variable can be used to determine satisfaction with the police in general and to check whether members of minorities are more satisfied or dissatisfied with the police and the justice system than the rest of the population. In addition, it can be used to determine whether or not they are more often victims of violence.

The questionnaire contains questions on minority status (ethnic, religious, sexual, related to skin colour or related to a disability).

People who are part of a minority are explicitly asked if they are afraid of being physically attacked by a stranger because of their minority status.

Furthermore, they are asked if they have the feeling that the police check them more frequently because of their appearance.

Information is gathered on whether or not people belong to a certain minority (based on their ethnicity/religion/skin colour/disability/sexual orientation or gender identity) and, if so, which one. However, no details are requested about exactly which ethnic etc. minority the respondents belong to.

Technical information

  • Data sources covered: Victimisation surveys
  • Areas of life covered: Employment; Education; Health; Others: victimisation, feeling of safety, satisfaction with the police/justice, physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence, economic violence
  • Target audience: Residents (aged 16–73)
  • Duration: 1 October 2020 to 1 March 2021
  • Geographical scope: Luxembourg
  • Leading institution: STATEC
  • Other organisations involved/consulted: Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft GmbH (infas); Police; Eurostat, Task Force on Gender-Based Violence
  • Financial & human resources: Budget: €94,000.00 (tax included); Source of the budget: State budget of Luxembourg; Staff: 1.5 full-time equivalents

Contacts

clarissa.dahmen@statec.etat.lu