25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. According to Police Crime Statistics (PKS), around 120,000 women in Germany are affected by violence from their partners or ex-partners every year. Approximately 120 women are killed by their partners or ex-partners annually, while a further 300 women escape attempted homicide (often with serious injuries). Consequently, comparisons made by some men’s networks regarding gender-based violence by women against their partners seem almost reflexive; they suffer from the fact that violence by men against their female partners is compared to violence by women against their partners without reflection. This masculinist movement ignores the fact that, above all, the intensity of physical violence remains a male domain.
The BAG Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt (TäHG) condemns the worldwide prevalence of gender-based violence by men against women and children. For this reason, it repeatedly calls for the full implementation of the Istanbul Convention to protect those affected, and for a massive expansion of financial resources for work with female victims and their children.
In addition to support and assistance for those affected by violence, working with the perpetrators plays an elementary role in victim protection. The BAG TäHG believes that meaningful and sustainable protection for women and children can only be guaranteed if work with perpetrators is also expanded and coordinated. This requires nationwide funding and the securing of support structures, both for work with victims and for work with perpetrators of violence.
Background:
The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Täterarbeit Häusliche Gewalt e.V. (BAG TäHG) is the pro-feminist German umbrella organisation for institutions working with perpetrators of domestic violence within inter-institutional cooperation alliances. The BAG TäHG now includes 83 institutions from almost all federal states, as well as from Switzerland, and is a member of the European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence (WWP EN), as well as the Istanbul Convention Alliance and the CEDAW Alliance Germany.
For the BAG TäHGRoland Hertel
