GREVIO's Baseline Evaluation Report on Austria
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GREVIO Baseline GREVIO, the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Evaluation Report Women and Domestic Violence, is an independent human rights monitoring body mandated to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Austria against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) by the Parties. The Istanbul Convention is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle violence against women and domestic violence. Its comprehensive set of provisions spans far-ranging preventive and protective measures as well as a number of obligations to ensure an adequate criminal justice response to such serious violations of human rights. This report contains an overall analysis of the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention. It highlights positive initiatives in preventing and combating all forms of violence against women at national level and provides suggestions and Group of Experts proposals to improve the situation of women facing such violence. on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) PREMS 140617 www.coe.int/conventionviolence ENG The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading Istanbul Convention human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. Published on 27 September 2017 Secretariat of the monitoring mechanism of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Council of Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex France www.coe.int/conventionviolence GREVIO/Inf(2017)4 2 Austria ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table of contents Foreword ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 I. Purposes, definitions, equality and non-discrimination, general obligations ................. 11 A. General Principles of the Convention .............................................................................. 11 B. Scope of application of the Convention and key definitions (Articles 2 and 3) ................. 12 C. State obligations and due diligence (Article 5) ................................................................ 13 II. Integrated policies and data collection .............................................................................. 14 A. Comprehensive and co-ordinated policies (Article 7) ...................................................... 14 B. Financial resources (Article 8) ......................................................................................... 15 C. Non-governmental organisations and civil society (Article 9)........................................... 17 D. Co-ordinating body (Article 10) ....................................................................................... 18 E. Data collection and research (Article 11) ........................................................................ 19 1. Data collection ......................................................................................................... 19 2. Research ................................................................................................................. 23 III. Prevention ............................................................................................................................ 24 A. Awareness raising (Article 13) ........................................................................................ 24 B. Education (Article 14)...................................................................................................... 25 C. Training of professionals (Article 15) ............................................................................... 26 D. Preventive intervention and treatment programmes (Article 16) ...................................... 27 1. Programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence .................................................. 27 2. Programmes for sex offenders ................................................................................. 28 E. Participation of the private sector and the media (Article 17) .......................................... 29 IV. Protection and support ........................................................................................................ 30 A. Information (Article 19) .................................................................................................... 30 B. General support services (Article 20) .............................................................................. 30 C. Specialist support services (Article 22); shelters (Article 23); support services for victims of sexual violence (Article 25) ......................................................................................... 31 1. Domestic violence services vs. services for other forms of violence against women 31 2. Access to services for all ......................................................................................... 32 D. Telephone helplines (Article 24) ...................................................................................... 34 E. Protection and support for child witnesses (Article 26) .................................................... 34 V. Substantive law .................................................................................................................... 36 A. Civil law .......................................................................................................................... 36 1. Civil remedies against the state – ensuring due diligence (Article 29) ...................... 36 2. Compensation (Article 30) ....................................................................................... 37 3. Custody and visitation rights (Article 31) .................................................................. 38 B. Criminal law .................................................................................................................... 39 VI. Investigation, prosecution, procedural law and protective measures ............................. 41 A. Immediate response, prevention and protection (Article 50) ........................................... 41 B. Risk assessment and risk management (Article 51) ........................................................ 44 C. Emergency barring and protection orders (Article 52); (Article 53) .................................. 45 D. Victim support in legal proceedings (Article 55 paragraph 2)........................................... 46 E. Measures of protection during investigations and judicial proceedings ........................... 47 (Article 56) ............................................................................................................................. 47 VII. Migration and asylum .......................................................................................................... 48 A. Migration (Article 59) ....................................................................................................... 48 B. Gender-based asylum claims (Article 60)........................................................................ 49 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................................... 52 3 GREVIO/Inf(2017)4 Austria ______________________________________________________________________________ Appendix I List of proposals and suggestions by GREVIO ..................................................... 54 Appendix II List of representatives of Austria present at the state dialogue with GREVIO .. 61 Appendix III List of the national authorities, other public bodies, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations with which GREVIO held consultations . 62 GREVIO/Inf(2017)4 4 Austria ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Foreword The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) is an independent human rights monitoring body mandated to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (hereafter “the Convention”) by the Parties. It is composed of 10 independent and impartial experts appointed on the basis of their recognised expertise in the fields of human rights, gender equality, violence against women and/or assistance to and protection of victims. GREVIO’s statutory activities include country-by-country monitoring of the Convention (evaluation procedure), the initiation of inquiries into specific circumstances within a party to the Convention (inquiry procedure) and the adoption of general recommendations on themes and concepts of the Convention. This report is the fruit of the first (baseline) evaluation procedure carried out in respect of Austria as one of the first two parties together