Climate Change & Gender-based Violence : The influence of climate disasters on intimate partner violence across the EU

Sammanfattning

This study investigates how climate disasters are related with intimate partnerviolence (IPV) across European Union Member States, depending ondemographic and socio-economic contexts. Climate change is increasinglyrecognised as a driver of vulnerability and empirical evidence in high-incomecontexts remains limited. Secondary data from two EU-wide surveys for IPV andclimate disaster records from EM-DAT are being implemented. Cross-countrylevels were supported by demographic and socio-economic factors includingpopulation, geographical size, GDP per capita, the Gender Equality Index (GEI)and the Human Development Index (HDI). A cross-sectional regression and amoderation regression analysis were applied. Intimate partner violence ratesshowed a clear increase from 2014 to 2021. Cross-sectional associations wereweak as no significant prediction from climate disasters on intimate partnerviolence were given. Moderation models did also not show significant evidence.While this study did not find evidence for a direct link between climate disastersand IPV in the EU, it emphasises the complexity of these relationships and theimportance of future research. Intimate partner violence remains an escalatingissue across Europe and understanding how climate change intersects withgendered vulnerabilities is necessary for developing preventive interventionpossibilities.