Violence against women: a European report denounces "serious shortcomings" in Germany
The Council of Europe is asking Germany in particular to set up “a domestic homicide review mechanism” to “analyze all cases of gender-based murders of women” (illustration image).
© iStock / laflor
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Council of Europe calls on Germany to make more efforts and deploy more resources to combat violence against women in the country, pointing to "
serious shortcomings
", in a report published on Friday 7 October.
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"
Serious shortcomings need to be addressed, including in risk assessment, the use of protection orders and emergency barring orders, support services and shelters
."
This is the rather bleak picture painted by the report of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on combating violence against women and domestic violence (Grevio), published on Friday.
Lack of emergency centers
This group of experts denounces an inequality in the offers of services to women victims of violence between the 16
Länder
, pointing to the "
lack of emergency centres
" for victims of sexual violence in certain geographical areas, particularly in areas rural.
And when there are, the staff is lacking, add the experts, citing the example of Berlin, a city of 3.7 million inhabitants which has only "
one counseling center
" for rape victims, counting "
fewer than nine employees
.
A victim sometimes has to wait two months for a first appointment.
Grevio, however, welcomes progress in Germany, which ratified the Istanbul Convention against violence against women in 2018: establishment
of "a definition of rape and sexual violence based on consent
", a hotline “
effective
” national system, or even
the “criminalization
” of several forms of violence, such as cyberbullying.
But according to experts, “
harmful gender stereotypes and blaming attitudes
” of victims persist within the German justice system.
► Also to listen: How to reduce domestic violence?
They also denounce the fact that custody and visitation rights have been granted to “
violent fathers
” without taking into account “
the concerns expressed by women in terms of security
”.
“
Security problems
” in centers for asylum seekers
Finally, women asylum seekers face recurring "
security problems
" in the centers that receive them: "
unsafe sanitary
facilities ", "
unlocked dormitories
", even mixed, going as far as violence committed by the staff of security or male residents.
The Council of Europe is also asking Germany to set up "
a domestic homicide review mechanism
" to "
analyze all cases of gender-based murders of women
", to increase the number of emergency, and to better train the personnel in contact with the victims, in particular the police.
(
with AFP
)
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