On 7 June 2024, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, Federal Women’s Minister Lisa Paus and the Vice President of the Federal Criminal Police Office Martina Link presented the Domestic Violence Situation Report for 2023. The most important annual statistics on reported domestic violence once again reach results that are hardly surprising, yet extremely worrying and frustrating.
The number of registered cases of domestic violence rose again in 2023. In total, 256,276 cases of domestic violence were recorded last year, representing an increase of 6.5 per cent compared to the previous year. The BKA (Federal Criminal Police Office) also reports a massive increase in reported cases in the area of intimate partner violence. In 2023, a total of 167,865 people were demonstrably affected by intimate partner violence (+6.4%). The gender-specific nature of intimate partner violence is also reflected in the published figures. In over 79 per cent of cases of intimate partner violence, the victims were female, while 77.6 per cent of suspects were male. 155 women and 24 men were killed by their partner in 2023.
Year after year, the BKA’s crime statistics evaluations make it clear that domestic violence is a societal problem of extreme proportions, with a high number of unreported cases to be expected. One can only guess how many people actually experience violence in the domestic sphere. The constantly rising figures show that the protection and prevention measures taken so far are by no means sufficient to protect people – especially women and children – from domestic violence.
The Federal Association for Perpetrator Work on Domestic Violence (BAG TäHG) therefore welcomes the initiative by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to establish mandatory perpetrator work in Germany as part of an amendment to the Protection Against Violence Act. Too often, victims are expected to seek help and take protective measures themselves, without also focusing on holding perpetrators accountable. In so-called perpetrator intervention programmes, people who use violence learn to take responsibility for their violent behaviour and to act non-violently. Alongside cooperation, the duration of the programme is a decisive factor.
The obligation to undergo six hours of violence prevention counselling at the time of an eviction order, as applied in Austria, represents a suitable initial intervention for clarifying norms, crisis intervention and risk assessment. However, they do not replace participation in a perpetrator intervention programme itself. As the BAG TäHG emphasises in its standard for working with perpetrators in cases of domestic violence, perpetrator programmes should extend over a period of at least six months in order to achieve sustainable, non-violent behavioural changes and to protect victims in the long term.
Holding people who use violence accountable through prompt and mandatory intervention is an important step, but one that must inevitably be accompanied by better funding for perpetrator intervention facilities. Even today, the financial resources provided are often insufficient to offer perpetrator work according to the BAG TäHG standard. Therefore, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s welcome initiative can only be implemented in practice if sufficient financial resources are made available for standard-based perpetrator work.
