Yesterday Klaudia Frieben described International Women’s Day as a “day of struggle for women’s rights”. The chairwoman of the Österreichischer Frauenring, the umbrella organization of Austrian women’s associations, had organized a protest action in Vienna together with several other feminist NGOs. Activists laid down banners with demands on Ballhausplatz.
Speakers called for more funds for facilities to protect against violence in Austria. As communicated in the past, 228 million euros and 3,000 additional full-time positions are needed for violence prevention. Women’s Minister Susanne Raab was also criticized for acting too cautiously in women’s politics.
Rosa Logar from the “GewaltFrei Leben” alliance drew attention to the situation of the caregivers at the intervention center against violence, who would take care of up to 300 people affected each year. Frieben also spoke of “precarious working conditions” for girls’ and women’s counselors.
Prepare instead of protect?
In view of the Ukraine war, Logar sees the danger that much more additional money will now be invested in the military instead of in equality. Refugee women and girls must be accepted in Austria, regardless of which country they come from, she also demanded.
Frieben denounced the lack of legal entitlement to childcare, women had problems reconciling family and job. As a result, access to the labor market is still not fully open to them. She criticized the fact that politicians were “constantly inventing new projects”. Instead, a long-term funding basis is needed for all women’s institutions.
SPÖ women’s chairwoman Eva-Maria Holzleitner also found no positive words for the government’s women’s policy. The recently set up women’s fund is not transparent, there is no need for webinars in which women learn to invest money, but to secure their livelihood, she said.
Upper Austria’s SP women also made several demands in a broadcast on Women’s Day yesterday. More funds are needed for protection against violence, an expansion of childcare, but also equal opportunities for women and better pay in classic women’s jobs.
A meeting is also planned in Upper Austria: on March 11 at 4 p.m., the “Bündnis 8. März” is calling for a rally in the Volksgarten in Linz.
Source: Nachrichten
