Violence against Women. On the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Austria

Abstract

This working paper examines how Austria is implementing the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention) to protect and support women affected by violence. Austria played an active role in the two-year negotiations on the treaty text for the Istanbul Convention and became a signatory in 2011. It was also one of the first states to ratify the convention, on 14 November 2013. The focus here is on Articles 22 (Specialist Support Services), 23 (Shelters) and 25 (Support for Victims of Sexual Violence). The paper uses a consistent structure to describe and assess the services and arrangements for each of these articles in Austria. Regarding Article 22, the available specialist support services are categorised according to the types of violence outlined in the Istanbul Convention. This is followed by the article on shelters (Article 23) and the article addressing rape crisis centres or referral centres for victims of sexual violence (Article 25).