After a number of notably horrific circumstances among the many killings have been broadly reported within the media, the problem of femicide is now squarely underneath the highlight.
In a small, rich nation the place violent crime typically is uncommon, a public debate has begun, galvanising activists and forcing politicians to behave.
“It is a actually dramatic state of affairs… It is incomprehensible,” Maria Roesslhumer, govt director of a community of ladies’s shelters, instructed AFP.
Figures have fluctuated over time, however between 2010 and 2020, 319 ladies have been killed in Austria, principally by their male companions or ex-partners, with a report excessive of 43 victims in 2019, in line with a research commissioned by the federal government final yr.
In 2018, Austria was among the many three European Union members to report the best charges of femicide the place the perpetrator was a member of the family or relative, Eurostat information confirmed.
Nonetheless, activist Ana Badhofer nonetheless decries a “lack of concern” over femicide, saying her group instigated the memorial at a Vienna market out of frustration.
She cited an instance from November of a girl crushed to loss of life with a baseball bat.
It was a very stunning case final March that compelled the problem to the forefront.
A 35-year-old lady, recognized solely as Nadine W., was crushed and strangled with a cable in a Vienna tobacco retailer by her 47-year-old ex-partner.
He then poured gasoline on her and set her alight earlier than leaving the store and locking the door.
She was rescued however died a month later from her horrific accidents.
In April, the 43-year-old proprietor of a craft beer retailer — beforehand accused by a politician of harassing her with obscene messages — was arrested for killing his former accomplice, a 35-year-old mom of two.
Each males got life sentences and despatched to establishments for mentally disturbed offenders.
From France to Mexico, South Africa to Turkey, campaigners have sounded the alarm about femicide and violence in opposition to ladies, typically by huge rallies.
In Austria, the coalition authorities lately allotted 25 million euros ($28 million) this yr, amongst a number of initiatives in direction of preventing the issue.
The killings have prompted some soul-searching within the Alpine nation, the place extra ladies than males are killed, in line with Eurostat figures, making it an outlier within the EU.
Roesslhumer pointed to a “tangible societal disrespect and disdain of ladies” which wanted to be tackled.
Karin Pfolz has bitter firsthand expertise of such attitudes.
Through the decade wherein she was caught in an abusive marriage, she ceaselessly felt remoted, she instructed AFP.
“You do not have anybody you’ll be able to discuss to, as a result of there’s a lot disgrace and social stigma,” stated Pfolz, who now speaks about her experiences in faculties.
Criminologist Isabel Haider, of the College of Vienna, stated that regulation enforcement officers additionally wanted to be educated to reply extra sensitively, as many ladies really feel “police aren’t taking them severely”.
It was a concern of not being believed that stored Pfolz from reaching out to the police.
When she did ultimately take her husband to courtroom, she stated that the — feminine — decide’s angle bolstered the sense she wasn’t believed.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic, on a current go to to Austria, referred to as for “an bold and complete strategy” to “shield ladies’s rights and gender equality”.
She famous the Austrian gender pay hole — just below 20 % in 2019, in line with Eurostat — is among the many widest within the EU.
“If you depart, all you have bought is a plastic bag in a single hand and a baby within the different,” Pfolz stated.
“You turn out to be a refugee in your individual nation,” she added.
However Pfolz is aware of that even when ladies are within the means of constructing a brand new life, they typically nonetheless face threats from former companions.
Her ex-husband would come to her new home and he or she remembered having to “lock myself right into a room with my son as a result of our lives have been in danger”.
Whereas she recognises that the problem of violence in opposition to ladies is now increased up the agenda, Pfolz nonetheless laments that “virtually no one even considers this a criminal offense — till it turns to homicide”.
This yr was just a few days outdated earlier than one other stunning case hit the headlines — a 42-year-old lady shot within the head and killed by her husband at their dinner desk.