A European expert group has urged the Netherlands to ensure its policies reflect that domestic violence "disproportionately affects women", and said its gender-neutral approach could leave women at risk.

The Netherlands ranks highly within the European Union on gender equality, and the country has brought in new laws against harassment and discrimination. Gender references have been removed from some policies to promote equality, but GREVIO, the Council of Europe's expert group on domestic violence, said in this sphere they were necessary.

"Violence within a relationship is often viewed as reciprocal or a conflict between two equals, without a thorough understanding of the gendered power dynamics in intimate partner violence," it said in its report on the Netherlands.

This could lead to women's victimisation at the hands of male perpetrators being overlooked or minimised, with detrimental effects on women's right to protection and support and an impact on child custody and visitation rights, it said.

GREVIO also called for more shelters for victims of domestic violence. It based its reports on the assessment of official documents, a country visit and inputs from authorities and non-governmental institutions.

HOW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS DEFINED IS KEY

Dutch authorities define domestic violence as "violence in a dependency relationship" which risked failing to address differences in power, dependency and gender roles, GREVIO said.

The "gender-neutral mantra" results in the denial of discrimination and ineffective policies, the Dutch branch of the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women told GREVIO.

The Dutch government said GREVIO's recommendations offer "valuable starting points for critically reflecting on the Dutch approach and for achieving further improvements in the protection of women and other victims of domestic violence."

A spokesperson for the health ministry told Reuters that a detailed policy response would be published shortly.

GREVIO monitors compliance by all signatories to the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention, fighting gender-based violence, of which one third of women aged 18-74 in the EU have been victims according to the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe.

GREVIO noted that the number of women killed by a partner, ex-partner or family member in the Netherlands was "persistently high".

Ivana Isailovic, assistant professor of EU law at the University of Amsterdam, told Reuters that studies show gender-neutral language in law may fail to protect women.

"If states do not recognise the gendered nature of domestic violence in their laws, it becomes more difficult to properly understand the mechanisms that enable this kind of violence, design policies to eradicate it, and train professionals to support and protect victims," she said.