Austrian NGO-Shadow Report to GREVIO
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GREVIO Shadow Report NGO-Coalition Austrian NGO-Shadow Report to GREVIO Coordination: Association of Austrian Autonomous Women´s Shelters, AÖF & Domestic Abuse Intervention Centre Vienna, IST Vienna, September 2016 INTRODUCTION As Austria was among the first two countries to be evaluated by GREVIO regarding the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, it is an honour as well as a challenge for Austrian civil society organizations to be given the opportunity to submit the potentially first Shadow Report regarding this new mile-stone legal document. Challenges with the coordination and drafting of this Shadow Report arose due to the short time frame for completing this report (April to mid September), in particular as it coincided with the summer months. Moreover, the participating organizations had to take on the task of coordinating and drafting the report without any financial support and in addition to their every day work with victims of violence against women (VAW) and domestic violence. Therefore, it was impossible for this report to fulfil the high quality standard we were hoping for. While we were not able to include every issue that had been discussed in the process of drafting this report and could not provide information on all topics with the same level of detail, we hope that GREVIO members will find that the report complements the State Report and thus provided a broader picture of the situation concerning VAW in Austria. With regards to the methodology used to draft this report, it can be noted that all civil society organizations and NGOs that were originally contacted by the Council of Europe and further relevant NGOs were invited to participate in an NGO Coalition lead and coordinated by the Austrian Association of Autonomous Women´s Shelters (AÖF) and the Domestic Abuse Intervention Center Vienna. The organizations that eventually participated in the drafting process and provided input to the final report are listed below. The coordinating organizations would like to take this opportunity to thank the Council of Europe for the opportunity to contribute to the monitoring mechanism of the Istanbul Convention, a break-through legal document whose importance for the fight against VAW cannot be overstated. We are looking forward to the evaluation process and its outcome and remain at the disposal of GREVIO should any further questions or the need for clarification arise. The coordinating organizations can be contacted through: Mag.a Kerstin Schinnerl, E.MA [email protected] tel: +43 (1) 585 32 88 24 Members of the NGO coalition responsible for this shadow report: African Women's Organisation Domestic Abuse Intervention Centre Vienna (IST) Asylum Coordination Federal Association of Autonomous Rape Association Efeu Counselling Centres Association Divan, Caritas Styria Federal Association of Intervention Association Frauenrechte jetzt (Women´s rights now) Centers/Centers for the Protection from Violence Association Info Centre for migrants Federal Working Group on Victim-safety oriented Association LEFÖ - Information, Education and Support Work with Perpetrators for Migrant Women Initiative HOSI (Homosexuellen Initiative) Association Maiz Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights Association menschen@leben Network of Austrian Autonomous Women´s Association Miteinanderlernen Shelters (AÖF) Association Orientexpress Network of Girl´s and Women´s Info, FMBST Association Peregrina Ninlil - Empowerment and Counselling for Association Witaf Women with Disabilities Austrian Women Ring (Frauenring) – Network of peppa-Girls Centre Caritas Vienna Women’s NGOs White Circle (Victim support organisation) Centre for Asylum Seekers, Caritas Vienna Women in Development Europe, WIDE Centre Polis Union of Austrian Shelters for Women ZÖF Table of Content Austrian GREVIO NGO-Shadow Report Vienna, September 2016 2 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 2 General Information on Women in Austria ............................................................................................... 5 Chapter I - Purposes, Definitions, Equality and Non- Discrimination, General Obligations ................. 7 Article 4 - Fundamental Rights, Equality and Non-discrimination ............................................................................... 7 Discrimination Based on Migrant or Refugee Status ................................................................................ 7 Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ......................................................... 7 Article 5 - State Obligations and Due Diligence .............................................................................................................. 8 State Obligations ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Due Diligence .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Article 6 - Gender-Sensitive Policies .............................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter II - Integrated Policies and Data Collection ............................................................................... 14 Article 7 - Comprehensive and Co-ordinated Policies ................................................................................................ 14 Article 8 - Financial Resources ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Article 9 - Non-governmental Organisation and Civil Society .................................................................................... 16 Article 10 - Co-ordinating Body...................................................................................................................................... 17 Article 11 - Data Collection and Research .................................................................................................................... 17 Administrative Data ................................................................................................................................... 18 Research Data ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Survey Data ................................................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter III - Prevention ........................................................................................................................ 29 Article 12 - General obligations .................................................................................................................................... 29 Article 13 - Awareness-raising ...................................................................................................................................... 29 Article 14 - Education ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 Art 15 – Training of Professionals .................................................................................................................................. 33 Training of Police Officers .......................................................................................................................... 33 Training of Social Workers ......................................................................................................................... 35 Training of Public Prosecutors and Judges .............................................................................................. 35 Training of Healthcare Professionals........................................................................................................ 36 Training of Immigration/Asylum Officials (see also Art 60) ................................................................... 37 Training of Educational Staff and School Administrators ...................................................................... 37 Training of Journalists and other Media Professionals .......................................................................... 37 Training of Interpreters and Expert Witnesses ....................................................................................... 38 Article 16 - Preventive intervention and Treatment Programmes ........................................................................... 39 Article 17 - Participation of the Private Sector and the Media ................................................................................. 40 Media ........................................................................................................................................................... 40 Private Sector .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Information and Communication Technology Sector ........................................................................... 42 Chapter IV - Protection and support ......................................................................................................