Yes, see below.

Preliminary note regarding short-term barring order

First, it is worth noting that the Belgian legal framework contains a specific law, the Act of 15 May 2012 on the temporary residence ban in the event of domestic violence, as amended by the Act of 5 May 2019, which is situated at the intersection of criminal law, civil law and administrative law.

This act introduces a temporary residence ban (or a "short-term barring order") in case of domestic violence. It is a specific law providing for the possibility of imposing a short-term barring order in cases of domestic violence.

Under this act, the public prosecutor may order the temporary ban of a person from the residence if there is a serious and immediate threat to the safety of one or more persons occupying the same residence (partner or children). This also entails a ban on contact with the persons covered by the order. This covers not just the partner but also children and other vulnerable persons residing in the same house on a regular basis.

The barring order can be imposed by the public prosecutor for a maximum duration of 14 days, starting from the notification to the person concerned. During that 14-day period, a hearing must be held during which the family court will decide to lift the barring order or to extend it for a maximum of three months.

Failure to comply with the order leads to the application of criminal sanctions.

Criminal remedies

1. Criminal protective orders

As mentioned under point 1 "Legal provisions," the Criminal Code criminalizes a wide range of behaviors related to domestic violence and, in particular, forms of violence included in the Istanbul Convention, such as rape (Articles 375, 376 and 377), harassment (Articles 376, 377 and 422-bis), forced abortion (Article 348 et seq.), forced marriage and cohabitation (Article 391-sexies et seq.), physical violence (Article 398) and female genital mutilation (Article 409), human trafficking (Article 433-quiquies) and sexism (Article 448). Helping and being complicit in the commission of offenses is criminally reprehensible under Belgian law. Attempted physical violence as well as attempted forced marriage is also criminalized.

In general, under Belgian criminal law, restraining or protection orders may be issued in the context of criminal proceedings; they may be imposed at any stage of the criminal proceedings (before, during and after the trial) on the basis of different provisions.

2. Harassment alarm

See the Ministerial Circular of 29 May 2019 on harassment alarm in the context of violence between ex-partners. The harassment alarm is an application that has been integrated into the 112 app and works with a portable button connected via Bluetooth to the victim's smartphone. When the victim is in imminent danger and presses the button, a call is made to the police call center. At the call center, the incoming call is clearly signaled as coming from a harassment alarm. The police take the necessary steps to immediately dispatch a police response team to the location indicated by the caller to the emergency center. In addition, the response team is informed of the special circumstances related to the recording of the victim, allowing for a more effective response. Finally, the 112 app sends a daily report containing various information that is useful to follow up on with the victim.

To benefit from the harassment alarm, a person must meet the following conditions:

• be a victim of serious and/or life-threatening harassment committed by a former partner and be able to prove it with a report(s); if not, be prepared to have a report drawn up
• be living/resident in the territory of the police area handling the case
• not maintain voluntary contact with the ex-partner (unless this is necessary in the context of the regime of rights of access to children); and be prepared to sign the user agreement

Civil remedies

1. (Urgent) preliminary measures, such as allocation of the family home to one spouse

Civil Law provides for the possibility to request a protection order, such as contact restraining order, through to preliminary injunctions.

Additionally, married partners (Article 223 of the Civil Code) and legal cohabitants (Article 1279 of the Civil Code) can ask the family court for (urgent) preliminary injunctions, including the allocation of the family home in accordance with Article 1253-ter/4 to Article 1253-ter/6 of the Judicial Code.

Preliminary injunctions can take the following forms (Article 1253-ter/5 of the Judicial Code):

1. order or modify any provision relating to parental authority, accommodation and the right of contact
2. fix, modify or abolish alimony
3. determine the separate residences of spouses and legal cohabitants
4. prohibit one of the spouses, for a period of time to be determined by the court, from alienating, mortgaging or committing his or her own or common movable or immovable property without the consent of the other spouse; the court may prohibit the removal of movable property or allocate its personal use to one of the spouses
5. require a spouse who owns movable property to give security or provide proof of sufficient solvency
6. use the same powers as those attributed to him or her under Article 221 of the Civil Code, i.e., grant to one spouse the income of the other spouse or the income of the property he or she administers under their matrimonial regime, as well as any other sums owed to him or her by third parties, under the conditions and within the limits fixed by the judgment
7. fix the conjugal residence of the spouses in case of disagreement
8. carry out a social study or any useful investigations, in order to decide on a request relating to a minor in accordance with the best interest of the minor

Save in exceptional cases, in cases of serious indications of rape or violence, the family home will be assigned to the spouse who is the victim of the abuse and who requests an injunction.

The violation of civil protection orders obtained on the basis of Articles 223 and 1479 of the Civil Code is not criminalized. It is, however, possible to request a compensation for the (additional) damages incurred due to the violation of the protective order (see our answer under question 5.5).

2. Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage

A married partner can sue for a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage (Article 229 of the Civil Code). When the cause is deemed urgent or urgency is invoked, preliminary injunctions may, at the request of one or both of the parties or of the public prosecutor, be imposed by the family court for the duration of the divorce procedures (Article 1280 of the Judicial Code).

3. Compensation for moral or/and physical damage

Under Article 1382 of the Civil Code, when a victim wants to obtain financial compensation for damages (moral, economic, financial, etc.) suffered from the perpetrator of the violence, the victim may bring civil action at various stages of the criminal proceedings (before the examining magistrate, before the chambre du conseil, before the criminal court). If no public action has been initiated, the victim may also launch a judicial investigation by filing a complaint and declare himself or herself as a civil party before the magistrate in charge. For contraventions and misdemeanors, it is also possible to proceed by direct summons before the criminal court.

4. Compensation from the state

Victims of intentional violence or their relatives may apply, under certain conditions, for some form of compensation from the federal state in the form of financial support. For example, if the perpetrator is unknown or proves to be insolvent, the federal state contributes to the compensation of victims. There is a special fund to help victims of intentional acts of violence (see Act of 1 August 1985 regarding Commission for Financial Aid to Victims of Intentional Acts of Violence mentioned above).

In the system of financial assistance to victims of intentional violence, there are three types of assistance: (1) main assistance (financial compensation for the damage suffered); (2) emergency assistance, granted before the completion of the legal proceedings (this may be necessary if the victim suffers significant damage in case of delay in granting assistance); and (3) supplementary assistance, granted after the main assistance (when the damage suffered by the victim increases).

First, it is worth noting that in Belgium, sexual violence (indecent assault, rape, etc.) is criminalized under Book 2, Part VII of the Criminal Code entitled "Crimes and offenses against family order and public morality" (Articles 343 to 391), and not under Book 2, Part VIII entitled "Crimes and offenses against persons" that covers crimes against bodily integrity (murder, assault and battery, inhuman treatment, etc.). It is also to be noted that domestic violence, as such, is not explicitly identified as a human right. However, it is captured by other provisions of international law with direct effect in Belgium, such as:

• Article 3 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which provides for the right to physical and mental integrity of a person
• Article 10, which recognizes the right to nondiscrimination and, in particular, the right to equality between men and women
• Article 22, which recognizes the right to respect for private and family life

The Istanbul Convention only became binding, under Belgian law, in 2016 through the adoption of the Law assenting to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, done in Istanbul on 11 May 2011.

Note that Belgium is a federal country composed of various federated entities. Insofar as the Istanbul Convention is deemed as a "mixed instrument" (i.e., affecting both federal and federated competences), this international instrument had to be ratified and implemented in the various federated entities as well.

Accordingly, all Belgian entities (besides the federal state) had to adopt a legal instrument to make the Istanbul Convention applicable in their respective federated jurisdiction.

In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, this was done through the adoption of a decree dated 29 November 2013. In the French-speaking part of Belgium, this was done through the adoption of two decrees dated 21 February 2014 and 13 March 2014. In the German-speaking part of Belgium, this was done through the adoption of a decree dated 6 May 2014. Brussels adopted an ordinance dated 2 July 2015 to assent to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

In practice, Belgium's additional commitments with respect to the Istanbul Convention have been reflected in the 2015-2019 National Action Plan (NAP), as well as in Circulars COL 3/2006 and COL 4/2006 on domestic and marital violence and COL 18/2012 on the temporary ban on residence. As for the 2020-2024 period, it seems that the NAP is still under negotiation. However, we note that the federated entities have undertaken some initiatives to implement some new action plans for this 2020-2024 period (see decree dated 27 April 2020 relating to the elaboration of the women's rights plan for the French Community,^[6] the Brussels plan to combat violence against women^[7] and the Flemish action plan to combat violence against women).^[8]

In accordance with Article 68 of the Istanbul Convention, Belgium has submitted a report based on a questionnaire prepared by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), on the legislative and other measures giving effect to the provisions of this convention.^[9]

In its 2020 report,^[10] GREVIO notes a certain invisibility of gender-based violence against women in Belgian policies. For instance, gender neutrality in the title of laws, circulars or action plans is aggravated by a tendency to place women and men on the same footing among the victims and perpetrators of the violence covered by the Istanbul Convention.

In the meantime, however, it appears that since the adoption of the first national action plan in 2001, significant progress has been made by uniting federal and federated entities around such a plan in 2006 and 2008, by extending the scope of the plan beyond domestic violence to include other forms of violence against girls and women, such as sexual violence, forced marriages, so-called "honor crimes" and female genital mutilation.

Nevertheless, GREVIO underlines a fragmentation of coordination that undermines the coherence of policies and approaches.

At national level, Belgium ratified the 1979 Convention through the adoption of the Act of 11 May 1983 "approving the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women."

Belgium reports to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) every four years on its implementation at the national level^[11] (see for instance, "The seventh periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women — CEDAW," which covers the 2007-2012 period).^[12]

At the federal level, three anti-discrimination laws were adopted on 10 May 2007 to combat a range of grounds for discrimination, particularly in employment, social security, the supply of goods, etc. and services, and access to economic, social and cultural activities.

The federated entities have also adopted legislative measures to combat all forms of discrimination, particularly against women, and to transpose European directives (e.g., the Decree of 10 July 2008 on the framework of the Flemish equal opportunities and treatment policy, the French Community's Decree of 12 December 2008 relating to the fight against certain forms of discrimination, the German-speaking Community's Decree of 19 March 2012 to combat certain forms of discrimination).

More generally, we note the enactment of various decrees and acts aimed at ensuring equality of treatment and equal opportunities. In Brussels, for instance, the Decree of 9 July 2010 on "the fight against certain forms of discrimination and the implementation of the principle of equal treatment" aims at ensuring equality between men and women.

Therefore, Belgium has a range of constitutional, legislative, regulatory and decree-based measures at its disposal to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex and to ensure respect for the principle of equality between men and women. The existing provisions prohibit both direct and indirect discrimination, sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of sex, as well as incitement to discriminate on the grounds of sex. The laws in force provide for legal remedies for victims and sanctions against perpetrators of discrimination.