Statement by BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V. regarding the motions on violence against women rejected by the Bundestag on 10 June 2021
For 10 years now, there has been the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, which the Federal Government signed on 1 August 2014 and ratified on 12 October 2017. The Convention obliges signatory states to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.
Article 1a of the Convention states: “The purpose of this Convention is to protect women against all forms of violence, and prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence.”
The Federal Republic of Germany has thus committed itself to proactively address all forms of violence against women and girls. The Convention also places a special focus on domestic violence.
Article 7 states: “Parties shall take the necessary legislative and other measures to adopt and implement effective, comprehensive and coordinated policies encompassing all relevant measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence covered by the scope of this Convention, and to provide a holistic response to violence against women.”
As part of a holistic violence protection strategy, Germany has committed to various measures:
- Violence prevention through raising public awareness and sensitisation
- Support and protection through assistance services, deployment of trained professionals, establishment of women’s shelters
- Effective criminal law norms and procedures for investigating and sanctioning acts of violence
- Immediate protection through contact and restraining orders
- Extension of measures to asylum procedures, independent residence permits for victims of violence
However, the Federal Government has by no means exhausted all legal possibilities, issued necessary new regulations, or approved the necessary funding for these measures.
Therefore, on 10 June 2021, the FDP, the Greens, and the Left Party submitted the following motions to the Bundestag:
“Recognising women’s shelters as part of the state’s protection mandate” “Making infrastructure for victims of domestic violence in Germany crisis-proof”
“Systematically combatting violence against women and girls – creating the foundations for successful implementation of the Istanbul Convention”
“Investigating, naming, and preventing femicides in Germany”
“Taking responsibility for women in women’s shelters”
“Strengthening counselling services for women affected by violence”
Specifically, these concern the following important demands for protection against violence against women:
- To undertake all efforts, together with the federal states and municipalities, to temporarily accommodate people affected by domestic violence in protective facilities and, in the medium term, to expand the number of places in protective facilities, and to extend the funding guidelines of the federal investment programme “Together Against Violence Against Women” so that these facilities can also be supported in the event of rising personnel and material costs; • To establish a state coordinating body for the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, which coordinates and harmonises the efforts of individual ministries and those of the federal states;
- To establish an external and independent monitoring body responsible for evaluating individual measures and for reporting;
- To provide financial resources for civil society so that it can independently and critically monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention.
- To provide, in the next six years, in coordination with the federal states and municipalities, a sufficient, regionally distributed number of women’s shelter places, oriented to actual needs, as per Article 23 No. 135;
- Concurrently with the expansion of women’s shelters, to work with the federal states to ensure that the number of trained personnel in protective facilities also increases to the extent necessary to meet the needs of all victims with regard to available refuges and specialised assistance.
All motions were rejected by the members of the governing parties CDU/CSU and SPD, as well as by the votes of the AFD. These parties are thus failing to meet their obligations under Article 2 of the Basic Law and the Istanbul Convention.
Against this background, it is not credible to criticise other states for withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention.
BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V. and its 80 member organisations have been making an important contribution to combating violence against women for 14 years through their work with perpetrators of violence, and, like women’s protection facilities, they depend on reliable legal structures and sustainable funding. We therefore call on the Federal Government to fully implement the Istanbul Convention.
For BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V.
Roland Hertel
Chairman of the Board
