The Netherlands is not doing enough to prevent violence against women, the European Council’s monitoring body GREVIO has said in a new report.

The Netherlands has signed up to the Istanbul Convention, which advocates against (domestic) violence against women, and has made advances, notably with new legislation on rape and sexual harassment in public places, the report said.

In addition, in June, MPs voted to adopt “Clare’s s Law” which will allow women to check if their partner has convictions for domestic violence.

However, “urgent action” is still required in some areas, the report said, calling for  for more and bigger shelters for victims of domestic violence.

It also wants the Netherlands to scrap the voluntary reflection time given to women who have been raped before making an official report, which women may feel is a discouragement.

GREVIO also said the Netherlands is insufficiently aware “that violence against women stems from their inequality with men, shortcomings in understanding the gender-based nature of domestic violence and its disproportionate effect on women persist”.

For example, domestic violence is not given enough attention when allocating parental authority when a couple split up, the agency said.

The report also said that a greater use of restraining orders can keep women and children safer. In the Netherlands, a woman is murdered every eight days, usually by an (ex) partner.

In a response, caretaker junior minister Nicki Pouw-Verwey said the government is working to “address the recommendations”.