Violence against women
Violence against women is perpetrated in various forms on the physical, sexual, psychological, economic or social level.
We need to distinguish between personal violence, practised directly by an acting perpetrator, and structural violence, which does not originate from an individual but is an integral part of a social system and manifests itself in an imbalance of power with accordingly unequal opportunities of women and men.
Personal and structural violence are mutually dependent and complementary. Hence any effective fight against violence requires policies that address the perpetrator and support the victim while attempting to change the social inequalities between the sexes.
Domestic violence is the most frequent form of violence affecting women. According to police estimates, 90% of all violent acts take place within the family and the social surroundings. The number of unreported cases of domestic violence is very high. Research findings indicate that every fifth woman has experienced violence within a relationship.
The study Summary "High-Risk Victims". Homicide in Relationships: Convictions 2008-2010 (PDF 89 kB)
analyses all convictions for (attempted) murder by male and female (ex-)partners in those years with a view to identifying special threats and gender-specific differences.
Women and girls with a migration background are additionally affected by a specific form of domestic violence – "tradition-based violence".
Contents
The following articles provide information about different areas, the legal basis as well as about initiatives and services within the topic "Violence against women":