On Thursday, Minister for Women Susanne Raab and Minister for the Interior Gerhard Karner (both ÖVP) presented a new violence protection strategy together with representatives of counseling facilities, including a position to coordinate the assistance offered. The “National Platform once morest Violence once morest Women” was set up in the Ministry for Women.
This is part of the strategy and is intended to deal with networking or the further development of protective measures. According to the Ministry for Women, the “Violence Protection Strategy for Coordination and Networking” was developed with experts from the administration and numerous organizations. A total of 200 actors were involved, it was emphasized.
“We are all united by the vision of a violence-free society for women and girls,” said Raab. There are already various measures in place, for example in education, men’s work and police work. The women’s budget, she emphasised, has tripled in the past five years. The new platform should now provide the framework for making optimal use of the existing structures, it was said.
Around 30 organizations from the federal government, states, municipalities, research and civil society are represented, as the minister explained. The tasks include expanding the advisory network and data management. The experiences of the respective institutions are to be exchanged. They also want to develop information material and strategies together.
Do not move on to the agenda
Interior Minister Karner recalled the weekend at the beginning of the year when five women were murdered. In the face of such events, one cannot simply move on to business as usual, he said. They are a mandate to continue on the path we have chosen. Important steps have already been taken in recent years, for example by enshrining fall protection conferences in law, anti-violence training for dangerous individuals and banning weapons.
According to the Interior Ministry, there have been a total of twelve murders of women in the past six months. The victims were between 13 and 90 years old. In the same period last year, there were 18 cases. There is also currently a slight decline in the number of entry and approach bans. In the first half of this year, 7,328 such decisions were made, Karner explained. In the same period last year, 7,650 such bans were imposed. In addition, 6,064 dangerous individuals were summoned to mandatory anti-violence training in the first half of 2024.
The number of women seeking advice is apparently increasing. Sophie Hansal, the managing director of the network of Austrian women’s and girls’ advice centers, reported a significant increase in inquiries. She said this was a positive step that showed that the offer was being accepted. Karin Gölly, the deputy chairwoman of the Federal Association of Violence Protection Centers, and Ursula Kussyk, the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Women’s Advice Centers for Sexual Violence, also took part in today’s presentation.
The reactions of the opposition
In response, the SPÖ recalled that a National Action Plan for Protection from Violence (NAP) had already been drawn up in 2014 on the initiative of the then SPÖ Minister for Women, Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek. Only such a plan calls on each individual ministry to identify and ultimately close gaps in protection from violence, said the SPÖ Women’s Chairwoman Eva-Maria Holzleitner in a press release. Better networking is good, but there should also have been a dialogue with the opposition. “Protection from violence requires solidarity, not just empty lip service.”
According to the FPÖ, better networking and further development of protective measures should have been in place long ago, as the blue women’s spokesperson Rosa Ecker said. The Minister for Women likes to talk regarding what is being done, but one question is never answered – namely why the number of violent crimes has been increasing since 2015. Ecker was convinced that the reason was the “uncontrolled mass immigration” of “culturally alien asylum seekers” and the lack of will on the part of the ÖVP and the Greens to pursue a proper integration and asylum policy.
NEOS women’s spokeswoman Henrike Brandstötter noted the federal government’s “unwillingness to reform” for years: “Protection from violence was very low on this government’s agenda. Now, just before the election, the lazy ones are getting busy.”