The alleged killing of a woman in the Baden district would be the 22nd woman murder this year. Only in September two Somali women were killed by a compatriot in Vienna. Austria ranks among the European leaders in violent crimes against women. In 2019, more than a third of murder victims in the EU were women. In Austria, the proportion was more than 50 percent and thus well above the EU average, according to data from the statistics authority Eurostat.
Only Cyprus (67 percent), Latvia (63) and Malta (60) recorded an even higher value, while in Sweden and Estonia it was 23 percent. In May, the Austrian federal government put together a package of measures against violence in the private sphere after a series of female murders. In the future, the exchange of data between the individual institutions is to be improved, the case conferences to be strengthened and the motives for the crime to be better examined. In addition, every police station throughout Austria should have specially trained prevention officers.
Femicide
Violence by men against women occurs in all social classes, nations, family relationships and professional groups. Murders of women can also be femicides. The term is intended to express that behind these murders there are often no individual but also societal problems such as the devaluation of women and patriarchal role models.
Help for those affected by violence is available here:
Women’s helpline (Mon – Sun, midnight, free), 0800/222 555
Emergency number for men: (Mon – Sun, midnight, free), 0800/246 247