Amendment to the Domestic Violence Protection Act: A Legal Milestone, but Worthless Without Funding! Expand Perpetrator Programmes as Required, Fulfil State Obligations! | Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V.

Rising Demand Due to Legislative Changes:

On 1st July 2026, the Act on the Introduction of Electronic Monitoring and Perpetrator Programmes in the Domestic Violence Protection Act came into force.[1] In addition to introducing electronic monitoring, the Act creates an explicit legal basis for family courts to oblige perpetrators of violence to participate in a perpetrator programme. This new regulation will come into effect on 1st July 2027.

Even though the Act fails to define clear referral criteria for family courts and to establish concrete quality standards for perpetrator programmes, the expansion of the catalogue of measures for family courts represents significant progress. Previously, family courts made only sporadic use of existing options to order perpetrator programmes.[2] In 2024, only 5% of perpetrators were referred to BAG TäHG counselling centres via family courts.[3] The potential for standardised referral practices to perpetrator programmes will certainly not be fully exploited with the new legislation. Nevertheless, greater consideration of perpetrator programmes as a long-term instrument for victim protection is to be expected. The Bundesrat assumes that perpetrator programmes will be ordered by family courts in 30 to 70 per cent of relevant cases.[4] A further increase in case referrals to perpetrator programme facilities will accompany the planned reform of child law, which provides for the explicit possibility of ordering perpetrator programmes in Sections 1666 and 1684 of the German Civil Code (BGB).[5] Furthermore, state police laws have recently been passed in Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Berlin, and other federal states, which also aim for greater integration of perpetrator programmes.

New Legal Provisions Will Currently Lead Nowhere:

Perpetrator programmes combine intervention with prevention in domestic violence and make an important contribution to overcoming gender-specific structures of violence through work with perpetrators. With the revision of the Domestic Violence Protection Act, Germany is following recommendations from the GREVIO Report 2022[6] and the Needs Analysis for the Prevention of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence[7], thereby contributing to the fulfilment of its state obligations.

However, effective implementation of these measures is not possible under current conditions! The currently available provision of standardised, equality-oriented perpetrator programmes will definitely not be sufficient to meet the foreseeable increase in demand. This is because, in Germany, perpetrator programmes are neither nationwide nor adequately funded:

Personnel: The Reporting Office for Gender-Based Violence shows that in eight federal states, less than one full-time equivalent per perpetrator programme facility was available in 2022.[8] The implementation of the BAG TäHG minimum standard, which provides for a sufficient contingent of specialist hours and the delivery of the perpetrator programme by at least two trainers, cannot therefore be regularly guaranteed.[9]
Provision: The Needs Analysis for the Prevention of Gender-Based and Domestic Violence clarifies: “Perpetrator programmes are central, but remain underfunded and unevenly distributed regionally.”[10] The study identifies serious gaps in provision, particularly in rural areas.[11] Many target groups cannot be reached with the existing provision.
Funding: The funding structure is inconsistent and generally relies on temporary project funds. The sustainable public funding demanded by GREVIO has not yet been implemented by most federal states. [12]
Waiting Lists: Many of our member organisations report long waiting lists and case rejections, as current demand cannot be met with the available resources. For example, the waiting time for a group programme in Baden-Württemberg is up to ten months. [13]

Since the infrastructure to meet demand is already insufficient in many places, the revised Domestic Violence Protection Act will come to nothing under current conditions. Due to the inadequate capacities of perpetrator programme facilities, perpetrators of violence will, in all likelihood, be unable to comply with court orders in a timely manner. Family courts will probably refrain from ordering mandatory perpetrator programmes or commission unqualified institutions to carry them out. This means, conversely, that the urgently needed improvement in domestic violence protection intended by the legislator cannot be adequately implemented. Victim protection remains inadequate or insufficient. The causes of violence remain unaddressed, and victims of violence continue to be at risk.

Against this background, the federal government’s calculation is completely incomprehensible. It quantifies the material costs for perpetrator programmes arising from the new legislation at 543,000 Euros per year.[14] The costs for the judicial sector are also estimated to be low. The Bundesrat clearly states: “However, the costs associated with the newly introduced possibility of mandatory perpetrator programme orders are likely to exceed this amount many times over.”[15]

If we are serious about victim protection, the federal government, the states, and local authorities must take responsibility and jointly ensure the sustainable and nationwide provision of perpetrator programmes. There is no question that the legislative amendment must be adequately funded by 1st July 2027 to guarantee practical implementation and ensure the translation of political signals into concrete measures. The increase in case referrals must be sufficiently reflected in the funding of perpetrator programme facilities, taking into account not only the growing demand but also the rising costs for rent, working materials, public relations, networking, and personnel. Otherwise, legislative progress will remain worthless.

The Federal Association for Perpetrator Programmes in Domestic Violence (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V.) demands: Perpetrator programmes must be sustainably funded and provided nationwide!

The nationwide provision of equality-oriented perpetrator programmes is not a voluntary service, but a state obligation.[16] Therefore, as the umbrella organisation of 85 perpetrator programme facilities with 117 counselling locations, we demand:

the systematic and nationwide expansion of equality-oriented work according to the quality standard of BAG TäHG[17],
reliable and adequate funding for perpetrator programmes that appropriately considers new legislation and aligns with actual existing needs,
the closing of existing gaps and support for the targeted further development of perpetrator programmes in previously underrepresented areas and target groups (see needs analysis),
the creation of mandatory training programmes on domestic, gender-based violence and perpetrator programmes for legal practitioners, and
the promotion of standardised and formalised cooperation structures in the field of violence protection.

The expansion of perpetrator programmes must not come at the expense of victim support. At the same time, perpetrator programmes must be recognised as an elementary component of violence protection and be considered in political decision-making processes. The implementation of the Violence Assistance Act shows that this is not always the case. Although work with perpetrators was explicitly named as a measure to be taken in the Act, it was largely omitted from the needs analyses and implementing laws of the federal states.

Domestic violence is a societal problem. In the worst case, it is fatal and causes immense costs at both personal and structural levels. Violence prevention also costs money, but it prevents the transgenerational transmission of violence and ultimately saves lives. Therefore, an ambitious overall strategy is needed for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, aiming at a holistic, barrier-free expansion of the support system with particular consideration for vulnerable groups and violence prevention. The creation of legal foundations for improving violence protection is an important step in the right direction – but in a second step, it must also be made implementable in practice by 1st July 2027. BAG TäHG and its cooperation partners are happy to provide their expertise in this regard.

[1] https://www.recht.bund.de/bgbl/1/2026/198/VO (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[2] https://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Publikationen/Analyse_Studie/Analyse_Taeterarbeit.pdf (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[3] https://www.bag-taeterarbeit.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/BAG-Statistik-Publikation_A4_v05.pdf, p. 25 (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[4] https://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/drucksachen/2025/0701-0800/771-1-25.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1 (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[5]https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Gesetzgebung/RefE/RefE_KiMoG.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3 (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[6] https://www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/resource/blob/202386/3699c9bad150e4c4ff78ef54665a85c2/grevio-evaluierungsbericht-istanbul-konvention-2022-data.pdf, p. 43 (accessed on 21.07.2026).

[7] https://www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/resource/blob/279780/eda7428ffb9363b919f09a3df62f27ff/bedarfsanalyse-zur-praevention-von-geschlechtsspezifischer-und-haeuslicher-gewalt-abschlussbericht-data.pdf, p. 357 (accessed on 21.07.2026).

[8] https://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Publikationen/Weitere_Publikationen/Monitor_Gewalt_gegen_Frauen.pdf, p. 161 (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[9] https://www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/resource/blob/95364/706d4734367217edbb5b5e31a83f0669/standards-taeterarbeit-haeusliche-gewalt-data.pdf, pp. 12 and 20 (accessed on 21.06.2026).

[10] https://www.bmbfsfj.bund.de/resource/blob/279776/e61796211f05e08c5ff1cefe9c0c038a/bedarfsanalyse-zur-praevention-von-geschlechtsspezifischer-und-haeuslicher-gewalt-abschlussbericht-kurzfassung-data.pdf, p. 28 (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[11] Ibid., pp. 32f. (accessed on 20.07.2026).

[12] https://www.institut-fuer-menschenrechte.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Publikationen/Weitere_Publikationen/Monitor_Gewalt_gegen_Frauen.pdf, p. 162 (accessed on 20.07.2026).