Discussions taking place this week with the police, the judiciary, the Ministry of Social Affairs and victim protection organizations are aimed at examining current cases.
After a spate of femicides — five women and a 13-year-old girl have been killed since Friday — the women's minister insisted Susan Robb (ÖVP) said at Tuesday's press conference that each killing is different and that the background and motives must be clarified. For this reason, a working meeting will be held this week with experts from the fields of security, justice and victim protection where the cases will be analysed.
In a large proportion of femicides, the perpetrator comes from the woman's family environment and often has addiction or mental illness, the minister said. “But you can address a disproportionately high proportion of criminals with immigrant backgrounds.” Raab warned that the cases of the past few days must now be approached “calmly and seriously” and the debate should not be “politicised”.
“Six women have been murdered in the last few days, which has deeply shocked us all.” But we know that “even if we have a well-developed violence prevention system, we cannot prevent every murder case.” The minister listed some examples of how the central government has set up a women's counseling center in every district, expanded emergency camps and set up new violence clinics. Some of these measures will be more effective in the coming years, “and we hope that we can continue on this general path, because every murder is the same.”
But what's missing from the debate is that “women's organizations have been starved for years.” Things are different now: “If you ask violence prevention centers and women's and girls' organizations, they will say they are doing well economically,” the minister believes.
In the fight against violence against women, it is important that “we work across communities”. There is a “strong sense of unity” within the government, and this week's debate will focus specifically on “where the violence protection system can be more tightly integrated”.
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