Domestic-violence cases in Luxembourg rise again as more victims seek help

The number of domestic-violence cases recorded by Luxembourg's police climbed again in 2025, and the services that support victims say more people are coming forward for help even as the country struggles to find them a safe place to stay.

The Grand Ducal Police intervened in 1,297 domestic-violence cases last year, up 10.1% from 1,178 in 2024 and an average of about 108 callouts a month, according to the annual report of the Committee for Cooperation between Professionals in the Field of Combating Violence. Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity Yuriko Backes presented the figures to a parliamentary committee on 26 June 2026. The data is compiled from the public prosecutors' offices in Luxembourg and Diekirch, the police, the victim-support services SAVVD, PSYea and ALTERNATIVES, and Riicht Eraus, the service that works with perpetrators.

Officers identified 2,802 presumed victims during those interventions — 58% women and 42% men — while children accounted for 29% of those affected. The overwhelming majority of cases arose within couples: about 84% of victims were caught up in violence involving a current or former spouse or partner. Roughly four in five victims suffered physical violence, the report found.

Evictions hit a new high

Prosecutors ordered 334 evictions of suspected abusers from the family home in 2025, up from 287 a year earlier — a 16.4% rise that works out at around 28 removals a month, or roughly one a day. A further 130 of those orders were extended. Men made up 87.7% of those expelled; in eviction cases, 81.6% of the victims were women.

The committee also flagged the persistence of repeat offending. About one in five evictions involved a perpetrator already known to the authorities, and more than half of those repeat offenders failed to show up at Riicht Eraus, the counselling service to which they are referred. Across the year, the courts handed down 201 judgments related to domestic violence.

More reporting, or more violence?

A central question hanging over the figures is whether they reflect a genuine increase in abuse or a growing readiness to seek help. Officials lean towards the latter: years of public-awareness campaigns and clearer reporting routes, they argue, have encouraged more victims and witnesses to call the police rather than stay silent. When the previous year's report was presented in 2025, Backes attributed part of the rise over 2023 to those awareness measures and greater public responsiveness.

Even so, the minister was careful not to present the numbers as good news.

The trend in police interventions and removals from the family home is not heading in the right direction.

The report points to forms of abuse that have only recently come into focus. The National Centre for Victims of Violence (CNVV) accompanied 423 victims in the year to end-April 2026, including 29 cases classed as economic violence — where an abuser controls a partner's money — and two victims of so-called chemical submission. Economic violence accounted for around 7% of cases logged during police interventions.

Shelters under strain

The sharpest practical bottleneck is housing. Olga Strasser, who directs the SAVVD victim-assistance service run by the NGO Femmes en détresse, told the committee that finding somewhere to live is a recurring obstacle for victims trying to leave a violent home, and that around 60 women and their children were on a waiting list for places in women's shelters.

Luxembourg currently runs seven women's shelters with 166 emergency beds, alongside 17 beds reserved for vulnerable men. A new shelter is due to open in Rumelange by the end of the year, adding 28 beds. Support workers say the gap between demand and capacity can force victims to stay with, or return to, an abuser.

• 1,297 police interventions in 2025 (+10.1%)
• 2,802 presumed victims; 58% women, 42% men
• 334 evictions ordered, up from 287 (+16.4%)
• ~60 women and children on the shelter waiting list

The official response

The government frames its strategy as a national priority. A national action plan against gender-based violence, presented by Backes in mid-2025, sets out 62 measures; according to Paperjam, 40 are under way and four have been completed. The budget of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Diversity has risen by about a quarter since 2024, with roughly two-thirds of its funds directed at combating violence.

Backes summed up the approach as one that does not rely on policing alone.

"In the fight against domestic violence, we continue to rely on a multidimensional approach combining victim protection, support for perpetrators and awareness-raising," she said, in remarks delivered in French.

Victims and witnesses in Luxembourg can seek confidential help through the SAVVD service and the national violence.lu information portal, which set out reporting routes, legal protections and emergency accommodation.