Intimate Partner Violence: Institutional Responses

Françoise Delmez, Ilan Tojerow and Magali Verdonck

No 26.06, Dulbea Policy Brief from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: This policy brief, the third in a three-part series on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), reviews institutional and societalresponses to IPV, focusing on Belgium’s legal system, healthcare and mental health services, social work, and materialsupport. It shows that Belgium has built a comprehensive legal framework since the 1990s, yet reporting to police remainslow and enforcement of protection orders is limited, while IPV victims face multidimensional legal needs that extend wellbeyond criminal prosecution. Healthcare and mental health services are frequent points of contact but under-identifyvictims due to screening gaps, even though trauma-informed and advocacy-based interventions show measurablebenefits. Social work and coordinated community responses improve outcomes when timely and empowerment-based,and material support, particularly shelter and housing, remains structurally insufficient relative to need. The briefconcludes that legal aid, healthcare, and material support are complementary and that no single intervention is sufficient:sustainable exit from abusive relationships depends on their coordination, with substantial costs to society when servicesare inadequate, fragmented, or inaccessible to marginalised survivors.

Date: 2026-09
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