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Political leaders have central role to play in countering racism and hate crime, say heads of European human rights institutions on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

A new report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) presents results from the world’s biggest-ever survey on violence against women, revealing the extent of abuse suffered by women at home, work, in public and online. As well as demonstrating the wide prevalence of violence against adult women, the report also details incidents of physical and sexual violence experienced by women in childhood.

Two-thirds of female victims of physical and/or sexual violence did not contact the police or any other service following the most serious incident of violence they had experienced, a survey from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) can reveal. The scale of the problem therefore often remains invisible in official figures, highlighting the need to improve awareness of the issue.

Racism, discrimination, extremism and intolerance currently pose a great challenge for the European Union. In a new report, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights examines the responses of two Member States, taking these countries as case studies to demonstrate the need for more targeted and effective measures to combat these phenomena throughout the EU. The report ends by proposing a number of steps to improve the situation.

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) holds its annual high level Fundamental Rights Conference in Vilnius on 12-13 November. This year’s conference focuses on ‘Combating hate crime in the EU’ and is being hosted in cooperation with the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU.