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:

 


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

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.