"16 days against violence"

Violence against women: Vienna wants to break the silence

Posters, advertisements, videos, freecards and more should be used to inform victims more about offers of help.

(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

Figures show how urgently the annual "16 Days against Violence against Women" are needed, especially in Vienna - and especially for victims who are often unable to reach out for help. In the coming days, the city wants to reach as many of them as possible.

Vienna is a sad epicenter of violence against women: around a fifth of all people in Austria live here, but around a third of all femicides happen here - eleven this year, which is no less than last year. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The extent of the violence can be seen in the figures from the support facilities in the city: Vienna's women's helpline recorded 2,200 first-time calls for help due to experiences of violence last year, an average of six per day.

Reliable and dense support network
In addition, there were a further 1,200 first-time calls for help due to other emergencies and more than 8,400 contacts - from phone calls and emails to accompaniment to the police, court and hospital - with women and girls who have usually been exposed to violence for some time. This year, the city is also addressing victims with the "16 Days against Violence against Women". Out of shame, fear or helplessness about what to do next, they all too often involuntarily help to hide the issue and protect perpetrators.

It takes an enormous amount of courage to leave a violent relationship or talk about a sexual assault. But no one has to do it alone.

Frauenstadträtin und Vizebürgermeisterin Kathrin Gaál.

Bild: Holl Reinhard

However, the city's figures also show that the support network is reliable and dense: last year, the women's helpline took over 61,000 minutes for telephone calls alone - the equivalent of 43 days without a break. The police helped with well over 4,000 reports and issued around 350 restraining orders. Over 770 women and 630 children found protection in a women's shelter. "Every woman in Vienna should know that she can get help," says City Councillor for Women Kathrin Gaál.

Cash register slip as a lifeline
The police emergency number is 133 and both the women's emergency number (01 / 71719) and the emergency number for women's shelters (05 77 22) are available around the clock. These telephone numbers can also be found on the receipts of large retail chains over the next few days. What began in 2021 with a campaign by grocery retailer Spar has set a precedent across the country: during the "16 days against violence", 20 companies are now providing information on till receipts about where female victims of violence can get help.

More and more retail chains are taking part in the "16 days against violence".

(Bild: SPAR/Johannes Brunnbauer)

Men for toughness, women for education
It's not just about a commitment, but about concrete help in the right place at the right time: financial challenges in particular fuel domestic violence, and shopping is often directly linked to it. The Spar Group also commissioned a survey on the topic this year, and the results were surprising in that the men surveyed in particular called for harsher punishments for perpetrators: 11 percent of men, but only 5.4 percent of women, think the punishments against perpetrators of violence are too lenient.

The majority of women are apparently convinced that there is a lack of awareness: 14.1 percent of them call for education to begin at kindergarten, compared to only 9.6 percent of men. Women are also more likely than men to call for more campaigns and more information about specific offers of help. What both have in common is that only a few consider it to be a "generally important topic", but men at least (3.6%) more than women themselves (2.0%).