Protection Against Violence: New Program Aims to Strengthen Sense of Security in Public Spaces

Women aged 16 and over visit fear-inducing areas with prevention officers; confidence and options for action are to be conveyed, it was stated on Friday before media representatives. Additionally, the Violence Protection Report 2024 was published: Last year, there was a slight decrease in exclusion and restraining orders.

A few years ago, there was already a program for safety in public spaces, and now it has been relaunched, reported Petra Warisch, the interim head of the Office for Violence Protection. 50 prevention officers have been trained for this purpose, who accompany girls and women aged 16 and over throughout Austria to underpasses, large residential complexes, or other "fear-inducing areas" in public spaces. For example, they look at where more lighting is needed or where bushes should be trimmed back, explained Warisch. But also the correct behavior in emergency situations and confident demeanor - but not self-defense - are discussed. Additionally, a new program for workplace safety is in the conceptual phase.

Training of 50 Violence Protection Trainers

The trial operation of the Office for Violence Protection has been running for almost a year. The office emerged from the areas of crime prevention and victim support, said Paul Marouschek, deputy director of the Federal Criminal Police Office. It deals with violence protection "in all its facets," with prevention and violence in the private sphere and public spaces being central. For this, they work with NGOs and other ministries, and all methods are scientifically based. The evaluation of the office is set to start soon.

In terms of violence protection in the private sphere, the office focuses on developing a standardized basic training in violence protection. Each year, 50 violence protection trainers are supervised and trained, who in turn train prevention officers. The network of prevention officers in Austria currently comprises about 1,300 people working in different areas of the police. These are roughly equally divided between men and women, said Warisch. The Violence Protection Office also leads the national violence protection committee and plays a central role in the further development of security police case conferences (SFK).

Exclusion Orders 2024 Slightly Decreased

Another task of the Office for Violence Protection is the analysis of data, which is then also published in the Violence Protection Report. The figures for 2024 show a slight decrease in exclusion and restraining orders compared to the previous year. Nationwide, 14,583 were issued, compared to 15,115 in 2023. In 2022, the number was 14,643. The most orders in absolute numbers were issued in Vienna (4,092), the fewest in Burgenland (482). The number of case conferences also slightly decreased: in 2024, there were 193, compared to 234 in 2023. The number of offenders decreased from 12,681 (2023) to 12,534.

"You have to look at the numbers over a longer period," said Warisch. According to studies, it takes seven attempts before a woman (over 80 percent of those affected are female) seeks help. It could be, for example, that the numbers have decreased because the same number of offenders endangered fewer people - if a man threatens his wife and two children, three exclusion and restraining orders are issued. Additionally, numerous awareness-raising measures have been implemented in recent years. As a positive example, she mentioned the "receipt action," where numbers of support services are printed on receipts. This could also lead to more reports of violence. "I believe that in recent years there has been a lot of shift from the dark field to the light field," Warisch estimated.

(APA/Red)

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