Vienna: painted in red blood at improvised warnings in Vienna, number 31 is a very large reminder of gloomy tolls: women who were killed by men in Austria last year.
After some very terrible cases among the killings were widely reported in the media, the femicide problem is now just below the spotlight.
In a small country that is rich in which violent crime is generally rare, the public debate has begun, galvanized activists and force politicians to act.
“This is a truly dramatic situation …
it is not understandable,” Maria Roesslhumer, executive director of the network of women’s shelter, told AFP.
The numbers have fluctuated over the years, but between 2010 and 2020, 319 women were killed in Austria, mostly by male partners or former partners, with a record high of 43 victims in 2019, according to a study assigned by the government then.
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In 2018, Austria was one of three European Union members to report the highest level of femicides in which the perpetrators were family members or relative, Eurostat data showed.
However, Activists Ana Badhofer still reduced “lack of anger” over femicides, said his group incited warnings in the Vienna market for frustration.
He quoted an example from November a woman who was beaten to death with a baseball bat.
It was a very surprising case last March which forced the problem to the front lines.
A 35-year-old woman, who was identified only as Nadine W., was beaten and strangled by a cable at Wina’s tobacco shop by her 47-year-old partner.
He then poured gasoline to him and took him before leaving the shop and locking the door.
He was saved but died a month later from his terrible injury.
In April, 43-year-old craft craft shop owner was accused of a politician to harass him with obscene messages – arrested for killing his ex-partner, a mother two years old 35 years old.
The two men were given a life sentence and sent to the institution for disrupted mental violators.
From France to Mexico, South Africa to Turkey, campaigners have sounded alarms about femicides and violence against women, often through major demonstrations.
In Austria, the coalition government recently allocated 25 million euros ($ 28 million) this year, among several initiatives to fight for the problem.
The murder has pushed several soul searches in the Alpine country, where more women were killed, according to Eurostat numbers, making it outlier in the EU.
Roesslhumer points to “a sense of disrespectful and underestimating women” who need to be addressed.
Karin Polz has a bitter experience with such an attitude.
During the decade where he was trapped in a rough marriage, he often felt isolated, he told AFP.
“You don’t have anyone you can talk to, because there is so much shame and social stigma,” said Polyfen, who is now talking about his experience at school.
Isabel Haider’s Criminologist, from the University of Vienna, said that law enforcement officers also needed to be trained to respond more sensitively, because many women felt “did not consider them seriously”.
It was fear not to be believed that making the Pholz reach the police.
When he finally took her husband to court, he said that the attitude – the judges strengthened his trusted feelings.
The European Human Rights Board of Commissioners Dunja Mijatovic, on a recent visit to Austria, called for “an ambitious and comprehensive approach” to “protect women’s rights and gender equality”.
He recorded the gender gender gap in Austria – only below 20 percent in 2019, according to Eurostat – is among the widest in the EU.
“When you leave, what you have is a plastic bag in one hand and a child in the other,” Polfz said.
“You become a refugee in your own country,” he added.
But the polfen knows that even when women are in the process of building new life, they often still face threats from ex-partners.
His former husband will come to his new home and he remembers having to “lock me into the room with my child because of our risky life”.
While he acknowledged that the problem of violence against women is now higher agenda, Pholz still regretted that “almost no one even considered this crime – to get used to the murder”.
This year was only a few days before other surprising cases regarding the main headline – a 42-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed by her husband at their dining table.