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VIENNA: Painted in blood crimson on an improvised memorial in Vienna, the quantity 31 is a stark reminder of a grim toll: the ladies killed by males in Austria final 12 months.
After a number of notably horrific circumstances among the many killings had been broadly reported within the media, the difficulty of femicide is now squarely underneath the highlight.
In a small, rich nation the place violent crime typically is uncommon, a public debate has begun, galvanising activists and forcing politicians to behave.
“It is a actually dramatic scenario… It is incomprehensible,” Maria Roesslhumer, govt director of a community of ladies’s shelters, informed AFP.
Figures have fluctuated through the years, however between 2010 and 2020, 319 girls had been killed in Austria, principally by their male companions or ex-partners, with a document excessive of 43 victims in 2019, in response to a examine commissioned by the federal government final 12 months.
In 2018, Austria was among the many three European Union members to report the very best charges of femicide the place the perpetrator was a member of the family or relative, Eurostat knowledge confirmed.
Nonetheless, activist Ana Badhofer nonetheless decries a “lack of shock” over femicide, saying her group instigated the memorial at a Vienna market out of frustration.
She cited an instance from November of a lady crushed to loss of life with a baseball bat.
It was a very stunning case final March that compelled the difficulty to the forefront.
A 35-year-old girl, recognized solely as Nadine W., was crushed and strangled with a cable in a Vienna tobacco retailer by her 47-year-old ex-partner.
He then poured gasoline on her and set her alight earlier than leaving the store and locking the door.
She was rescued however died a month later from her horrific accidents.
In April, the 43-year-old proprietor of a craft beer retailer — beforehand accused by a politician of harassing her with obscene messages — was arrested for killing his former accomplice, a 35-year-old mom of two.
Each males got life sentences and despatched to establishments for mentally disturbed offenders.
From France to Mexico, South Africa to Turkey, campaigners have sounded the alarm about femicide and violence in opposition to girls, typically by way of large rallies.
In Austria, the coalition authorities lately allotted 25 million euros ($28 million) this 12 months, amongst a number of initiatives in direction of combating the issue.
The killings have prompted some soul-searching within the Alpine nation, the place extra girls than males are killed, in response to Eurostat figures, making it an outlier within the EU.
Roesslhumer pointed to a “tangible societal disrespect and disdain of ladies” which wanted to be tackled.
Karin Pfolz has bitter firsthand expertise of such attitudes.
Throughout the decade wherein she was caught in an abusive marriage, she regularly felt remoted, she informed AFP.
“You do not have anybody you’ll be able to discuss to, as a result of there may be a lot disgrace and social stigma,” mentioned Pfolz, who now speaks about her experiences in faculties.
Criminologist Isabel Haider, of the College of Vienna, mentioned that legislation enforcement officers additionally wanted to be educated to reply extra sensitively, as many ladies really feel “police aren’t taking them severely”.
It was a worry of not being believed that saved Pfolz from reaching out to the police.
When she did finally take her husband to courtroom, she mentioned that the — feminine — choose’s angle bolstered the sense she wasn’t believed.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic, on a current go to to Austria, referred to as for “an formidable and complete method” to “shield girls’s rights and gender equality”.
She famous the Austrian gender pay hole — just below 20 % in 2019, in response to Eurostat — is among the many widest within the EU.
“Whenever you depart, all you’ve got bought is a plastic bag in a single hand and a baby within the different,” Pfolz mentioned.
“You develop into a refugee in your individual nation,” she added.
However Pfolz is aware of that even when girls are within the technique of constructing a brand new life, they typically nonetheless face threats from former companions.
Her ex-husband would come to her new home and she or he remembered having to “lock myself right into a room with my son as a result of our lives had been in danger”.
Whereas she recognises that the difficulty of violence in opposition to girls is now greater up the agenda, Pfolz nonetheless laments that “virtually no one even considers this against the law — till it turns to homicide”.
This 12 months was just a few days previous earlier than one other stunning case hit the headlines — a 42-year-old girl shot within the head and killed by her husband at their dinner desk.
After a number of notably horrific circumstances among the many killings had been broadly reported within the media, the difficulty of femicide is now squarely underneath the highlight.
In a small, rich nation the place violent crime typically is uncommon, a public debate has begun, galvanising activists and forcing politicians to behave.
“It is a actually dramatic scenario… It is incomprehensible,” Maria Roesslhumer, govt director of a community of ladies’s shelters, informed AFP.
Figures have fluctuated through the years, however between 2010 and 2020, 319 girls had been killed in Austria, principally by their male companions or ex-partners, with a document excessive of 43 victims in 2019, in response to a examine commissioned by the federal government final 12 months.
In 2018, Austria was among the many three European Union members to report the very best charges of femicide the place the perpetrator was a member of the family or relative, Eurostat knowledge confirmed.
Nonetheless, activist Ana Badhofer nonetheless decries a “lack of shock” over femicide, saying her group instigated the memorial at a Vienna market out of frustration.
She cited an instance from November of a lady crushed to loss of life with a baseball bat.
It was a very stunning case final March that compelled the difficulty to the forefront.
A 35-year-old girl, recognized solely as Nadine W., was crushed and strangled with a cable in a Vienna tobacco retailer by her 47-year-old ex-partner.
He then poured gasoline on her and set her alight earlier than leaving the store and locking the door.
She was rescued however died a month later from her horrific accidents.
In April, the 43-year-old proprietor of a craft beer retailer — beforehand accused by a politician of harassing her with obscene messages — was arrested for killing his former accomplice, a 35-year-old mom of two.
Each males got life sentences and despatched to establishments for mentally disturbed offenders.
From France to Mexico, South Africa to Turkey, campaigners have sounded the alarm about femicide and violence in opposition to girls, typically by way of large rallies.
In Austria, the coalition authorities lately allotted 25 million euros ($28 million) this 12 months, amongst a number of initiatives in direction of combating the issue.
The killings have prompted some soul-searching within the Alpine nation, the place extra girls than males are killed, in response to Eurostat figures, making it an outlier within the EU.
Roesslhumer pointed to a “tangible societal disrespect and disdain of ladies” which wanted to be tackled.
Karin Pfolz has bitter firsthand expertise of such attitudes.
Throughout the decade wherein she was caught in an abusive marriage, she regularly felt remoted, she informed AFP.
“You do not have anybody you’ll be able to discuss to, as a result of there may be a lot disgrace and social stigma,” mentioned Pfolz, who now speaks about her experiences in faculties.
Criminologist Isabel Haider, of the College of Vienna, mentioned that legislation enforcement officers additionally wanted to be educated to reply extra sensitively, as many ladies really feel “police aren’t taking them severely”.
It was a worry of not being believed that saved Pfolz from reaching out to the police.
When she did finally take her husband to courtroom, she mentioned that the — feminine — choose’s angle bolstered the sense she wasn’t believed.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic, on a current go to to Austria, referred to as for “an formidable and complete method” to “shield girls’s rights and gender equality”.
She famous the Austrian gender pay hole — just below 20 % in 2019, in response to Eurostat — is among the many widest within the EU.
“Whenever you depart, all you’ve got bought is a plastic bag in a single hand and a baby within the different,” Pfolz mentioned.
“You develop into a refugee in your individual nation,” she added.
However Pfolz is aware of that even when girls are within the technique of constructing a brand new life, they typically nonetheless face threats from former companions.
Her ex-husband would come to her new home and she or he remembered having to “lock myself right into a room with my son as a result of our lives had been in danger”.
Whereas she recognises that the difficulty of violence in opposition to girls is now greater up the agenda, Pfolz nonetheless laments that “virtually no one even considers this against the law — till it turns to homicide”.
This 12 months was just a few days previous earlier than one other stunning case hit the headlines — a 42-year-old girl shot within the head and killed by her husband at their dinner desk.
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