As a pro-feminist umbrella organisation for perpetrator work facilities in Germany, the Federal Association for Domestic Violence Perpetrator Work (BAG TäHG) stands in solidarity with all women affected by violence and calls for an end to gender-based violence.
Violence against women in its various forms continues to be one of the most frequent human rights violations worldwide. 35% of all women become victims of violence in their lifetime; social crises and conflicts, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbate the situation. As Russia’s war of aggression demonstrates once again, violence against women in armed conflicts and wars is systematically used as a weapon of war. Protests against patriarchal structures of oppression and the struggle for gender equality are ignored, actively hindered or, as is currently the case in Iran, suppressed with massive violence. This year, special solidarity is extended to the women in Iran and Afghanistan who tirelessly stand up for their rights and resist gendered structures of oppression.
Gender-based violence is also omnipresent in Germany. Every three days, a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner. Furthermore, in over 80 per cent of cases, domestic violence is directed against women. With the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on 12 October 2017, Germany committed itself to combating violence against women and domestic violence. The report by the GREVIO panel of experts, published in October 2022, attests that despite positive developments, Germany has serious deficits in protecting women from violence. GREVIO criticises the fact that, to date, neither a uniform nationwide strategy nor a national coordination office for the implementation of the Convention has been developed or established. Counselling services and facilities for women affected by domestic violence are reportedly neither available nationwide nor in sufficient numbers. Queer people, women with a refugee background, and women with disabilities are reportedly insufficiently considered in existing services, despite their particular vulnerability. The report also emphasises that work with perpetrators must be further expanded, professionalised, and receive more public funding in order to protect victims and prevent violence against women.
The BAG TäHG joins the criticism of the GREVIO report and once again calls on the Federal Government to implement the Istanbul Convention fully and without reservation. Violence against women and girls is not an isolated phenomenon; it is structurally anchored in our society. Therefore, comprehensive, nationwide, and cross-institutional measures must be developed to protect women and girls. Furthermore, the underlying causes of gender-based violence must be more closely examined and addressed.
The BAG TäHG welcomes the GREVIO report’s calls for an expansion of perpetrator work. Through its work, the BAG TäHG aims to help break cycles of domestic violence, combat violence against women preventatively, and transform gendered power structures. For every woman and every girl has the right to a life free from discrimination and violence.
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the BAG TäHG is participating in the #schweigenbrechen (#breakthesilence) campaign by the help-line.
