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What we want, and what we do

Violence against women concerns all of us. It is a societal and structural problem – and not just an individual’s predicament. Civil society and state are required to fight such violence.

These issues are what the Association of Women’s Shelters is committed to:

 

Jointly fighting violent against women

Violence against women is a grave violation of human rights that is based in unequal power relations between women and men. Women and children affected by violence are in need of a differentiated and high-quality help system. Hence we call for:

  • federal legal frameworks as well as reliable funding for help systems that meet the requirements of the persons concerned
  • legal entitlement to protection and help in cases of violence  
  • needs-based and unbureaucratic support for women and their children
  • heightened public awareness of violence against women

Building networks among actors, joining forces

Fighting violence against women requires broad social alliances that extend beyond national borders. This is why we advocate the following:

  • a specialist policy-based representation of interests and professional collaboration among our member associations and individual members
  • networking among the operations of women’s shelters and specialised counselling centres
  • pooling experiences from research and practice, incorporating them into political decision-making processes, legislative proposals and professional discourses
  • cooperation with other networking centres as well as national and international organisations

Supporting women’s shelters and specialised counselling centres

We support women's shelters and counselling centres in their public relations work on the topic of “Protecting Women Against Violence” and carry the professional discourse forward, for example, through:

  • competent responses to inquiries from politicians, researchers and practitioners
  • a nation-wide search for women’s shelters and counselling centres on our homepage
  • the publication of relevant information and editorially prepared practical knowledge
  • dealing with key questions concerning legal and financial issues
  • professional support with developing new concepts for the protection against violence
  • the organisation of professional events  
  • statistical evaluations of the federal help system

Advancing protection against violence

We advise politicians and ministries at federal and state level as well as a variety of other institutions on strategies for fighting violence against women, for example, by means of:

  • giving statements in legislative procedures and in the role of official experts during hearings of parliamentary committees
  • supporting research projects through professional expertise and practical experience.

We hold the opinion that if you don’t talk about violence, then you foster violence.