“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development, and peace.”
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

Violence against women in intimate relationships is committed by their husbands, partners, ex-spouses or ex-partners. It is not dependent on age, social status, education, ethnicity or religion, by temperament or the mental equipment partners.

It represents the most serious and the most extensive form of violence against women. Also it may have other forms, such as violence against women in pair relationships, trafficking of women, rape, sexual abuse and sexual harassment, forced prostitution, female genital mutilation, etc.

The Slovak Republic has been committed itself to the perception of the causes and consequences of violence against women, gender and human-related – therefore caused by structural and unequal distribution of power between men and women in society. This understanding is also used in the national documents of Slovak Government.

• Violence is a crime.
• For violence is responsible the one who commits it.
• Nobody has the right under any circumstances to act violently towards another person.