Germany's Cabinet adopts strategy to combat violence against women

Germany's Cabinet on Wednesday adopted a strategy to address violence against women and implement measures from the Istanbul Convention to combat gender-based violence against girls and women.

The treaty, struck by the Council of Europe, has been in force in Germany since 2018 and calls for both legal and political steps to stop violence against women.

Germany's strategy, which contains 120 measures, was presented by Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus, a Green politician. A new office in the ministry is to coordinate the measures across the government.

"Ultimately, it's about doing everything we can to protect women from violence in the best possible way," Paus said after the Cabinet decision in Berlin.

She again called for the Violence Assistance Act to be passed before the end of this legislative period. The legislation would provide additional funding for sufficient women's shelters in Germany.

According to the Ministry for Family Affairs, there are more 400 women's shelters with capacity for more than 6,000 places in Germany for women and their children affected by violence, as well as around 750 specialist advice centres for violence against women.

The German government currently lacks a majority in parliament, after the coalition broke apart in early November, and would need support from opposition lawmakers to pass the legislation.

According to Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), 360 women and girls were killed in 2023 in gender-motivated homicides, referred to as femicides. Many were killed by their current or former partners.

Another 576 women and girls survived attempts on their lives during 2023, according to BKA figures.