On 1-2 December, at the Irish College in Leuven (Belgium), CEP and EuroPris organized a joint international workshop on Domestic Violence in prison and probation. During the 2-day program, the key areas were the evaluation of treatment programs, the use of virtual reality and interagency cooperation. Experts from several jurisdictions presented on these topics, and in the three break-out sessions there was enough time for discussion and sharing of experiences. Participants from several European jurisdictions were delighted to come together face to face again after such a long time, exchange experiences and discuss current issues in their work field.

Domestic violence has been an ongoing phenomenon all around Europe and unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis has only made the topic more urgent and accurate. EuroPris and Confederation of European Probation (CEP) established their joint expert group on this topic a few years ago, in order to work on improving the management and rehabilitation of offenders with a domestic violence background and to raise awareness about this issue in European Prison and Probation Services.

The workshop presentations can be downloaded below.

• Overview of Domestic Violence in Europe – by A. Pauncz
• Domestic Violence Interventions: The Evidence – by S. Henfrey
• Intervention Programme for perpetrators of Domestic Violence in Slovak Prisons – by J. Zajac
• The Use of Virtual Reality Technology for Domestic Violence Cases – by D. Ivarsson
• WG on RJ and Gender-Based Violence – by L. Hein
• The Use of Restorative Justice Practices in Domestic Violence – by P. Franck
• Domestic Abuse – Investing in Early Interventions to Prevent Offending – by. Dr. G. O’Hare