Istanbul Convention Alliance calls for measures from the Federal Government
Despite the government’s existing obligations, women and girls in Germany are not being effectively protected from violence, criticises the civil society Istanbul Convention Alliance (BIK) on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November. “Germany is failing women affected by violence and their children. It cannot and must not continue like this,” says Sabine Bösing, Alliance Council member and Deputy Managing Director of BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe. With the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention in Germany in February 2018, the Federal Government committed itself to combating and prosecuting violence against women and girls in a sustainable manner. “Standing up for the rights of all women affected by violence is a task for the whole of society. This requires a change of consciousness in politics and administration. Protection from gender-based violence is a human right; that is what we stand for,” Bösing continues.
The evaluation report by the Council of Europe’s independent expert commission (GREVIO) is a clear appeal for action to the Federal Government. Measures to implement the Istanbul Convention in Germany are insufficient in many areas of the Convention. While promising approaches are recognisable in various municipalities and federal states, they have not been implemented nationwide. Therefore, the Alliance calls for a comprehensive political strategy against violence at the federal level. Only in this way can gender-based violence be combated effectively and at all levels.
The Alliance further demands that protection against violence takes precedence over contact and custody rights. Contact arrangements following sexualised violence also urgently require revision in line with the IC. Contact situations in which, for example, children are handed over and the mother meets the violent father, remain particularly dangerous situations for mothers. They can end in violence, including the killing of the mother or the children by the father. “These femicides are preventable if the planned family law reform takes into account the provisions of Article 31 IC,” emphasises Britta Schlichting, Alliance Council member and representative of the Central Information Office of Autonomous Women’s Shelters.
The gaps also become clear in the protection against violence for women who receive hardly any support due to homelessness, language barriers, lack of knowledge of the legal system, their residence status, or a disability. The Alliance demands that measures to protect women from violence must be accessible to all target groups. “Women and girls who are particularly dependent on help are let down the most due to various exclusion mechanisms,” says Dr Delal Atmaca, Alliance Council member and Managing Director at DaMigra.
The BIK welcomes the announced withdrawal of reservations against Articles 44 and 59 IC, but does not agree with the Federal Government’s statement that Article 59 is already fully implemented. The current regulation on the independent right of residence for spouses (§31 AufenthG) does not do justice to many women who want to leave their marriage and who, as a result, must fear for their right of residence. “As a result, women not only lack protection, but are forced by existing laws to live with violence and abuse, because otherwise they may face deportation,” Dr Atmaca summarises.
Member organisations: BAG Autonome Mädchenhäuser, BAG Forsa e.V., BAG kommunaler Frauenbüros und Gleichstellungsstellen, BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V., BAG Wohnungslosenhilfe e.V., Berufsverband erotische und sexuelle Dienstleistungen e.V., bff – Frauen gegen Gewalt e.V., BIG e.V., Broken Rainbow e.V., BVFeSt e.V., BVtrans* e.V., Cora – Frauen helfen Frauen e.V. Rostock, DaMigra e.V., Deutscher Frauenrat e.V., Deutscher Juristinnenbund e.V., Frauenhauskoordinierung e.V., gesine intervention, JUMEN e.V., KOK – Koordinierungskreis gegen Menschenhandel, medica mondiale e.V., Mütterinitiative für Alleinerziehende – MIA e.V. i.G., PRO ASYL e.V., S.I.G.N.A.L. e. V., Weibernetz e. V., Zentrale Informationsstelle Autonomer Frauenhäuser
Advisory experts: Prof. Dr Ariane Brenssell, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences Braunschweig/Wolfenbüttel; Karin Heisecke, political consultant and expert on violence against women; Dr Monika Schröttle, Gender, Violence and Human Rights Research and Observation Centre (FOBES) at the Institute for Empirical Sociology, Nuremberg; Prof. Dr Kathrin Schrader, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences; Silvia Schürmann-Ebenfeld, German Institute for Human Rights
Contact for the Alliance: Xenia Bukowsky, Coordinator of the Istanbul Convention Alliance, 030 204569-45, bukowsky@frauenrat.de
