The plans were presented at a press conference by Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP), Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) and Women’s Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP).
“The women concerned can activate the silent emergency call using an app on their cell phone without the police having to call them back,” said Karner when presenting new measures to reduce violence against women and girls. Before that, registration has to be carried out, the address given, in an emergency then only a button in the app has to be pressed and “the police will immediately go to the crime scene and investigate,” said Karner.
In addition, there should be a nationwide deployment of officials who have special experience with the topic of violence in the family. “This requires special training.” The pilot operation, which has been running in Vienna since July, has been successful, and the interior minister announced that the project is now to be extended to the whole of Austria.
Violence ambulance should come
Justice Minister Zadić has meanwhile announced that she wants to increase the conviction rate of violent criminals, which is why the offer of court assistance for women should be increased: “Women who make use of psychosocial court assistance are more successful in enforcing their rights”. Only 20 percent of women would currently make use of this offer. In addition, an “improved quality in the preservation of evidence” is necessary, said the minister – in the future, interrogations should be carried out immediately after the crime and medical examinations of the victims should take place promptly after the crime. A “violence ambulance” could be set up for this purpose. “Victims of violence should have the opportunity to be examined free of charge, and injuries should then be documented in court,” said Zadic.
More consultations
Minister for Women Raab has meanwhile announced the expansion of specialist counseling centers for sexual violence. Although these positions have been available nationwide since 2019, capacities are now to be increased in Burgenland, Vorarlberg and Carinthia. In addition, the “coordination office against female genital mutilation” will get new staff, “so that every woman knows where to turn in an emergency,” said Raab.
The interdepartmental measures are now urgently needed, the ministers agreed: last year 26 women were murdered in Austria, three this year, the number of bans on entry increased by 17 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year. Since September 2021, 5,000 people who are at risk have also been given mandatory care, the Ministry of the Interior said.
“Hope the app works”
“I very much hope that the presented emergency call app will work. In the past, unfortunately, we have not had such good experiences with the federal government’s digital projects,” said SPÖ women’s chairwoman Eva-Maria Holzleitner in a broadcast. Holzleitner also sees room for improvement in high-risk case conferences. 57 last year are still far too few. It takes a real boost to live up to this great responsibility.
Source: Nachrichten
