Data and statistics in Austria

1. Prevalence data and victim surveys
2. Costs of domestic violence
3. Age distribution of domestic violence
4. Number of deaths

1. Prevalence data and victim surveys

Prevalence Study Austria:

Statistik Austria (2022): Geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt gegen Frauen und andere Formen von interpersoneller Gewalt. [Accessed: 24.01.2024]

Violence experienced by women or violence that affects women disproportionately more than men was surveyed among adult women (18-74 years). This includes violence in intimate partnerships as well as outside of intimate partnerships, stalking, sexual harassment in the workplace and violence during childhood. 23.5% of women experienced physical violence within or outside of intimate partnerships from the age of 15. If sexual violence is also taken into account, this figure rises to more than a third (34.5%). Around 16.4% of all women who have been in an intimate relationship at least once have experienced physical and/or sexual violence within these relationships.

Table 1: Gender-based violence against women

Characteristic	Population1)	Absolute	Relative (%)
Violence in intimate partnerships (physical v., sexual v.)	3 130 986	513 934	16,41
Violence outside of intimate partnerships (physical v., sexual v.)	3 245 166	863 505	26,61
Stalking	3 245 166	709 958	21,88
Sexual harassment in the workplace	2 770 707	736 613	26,59
Sexual violence during childhood	3 245 166	228 910	7,05
Physical violence inside or outside of intimate partnerships (after the age of 15)	3 245 166	761 786	23,47
Sexual violence inside or outside of intimate partnerships (after the age of 15)	3 245 166	770 716	23,75
Physical and/or sexual violence inside or outside of intimate partnerships (after the age of 15)	3 245 166	1 119 934	34,51
Threats of physical violence inside or outside of intimate partnerships (after the age of 15)	3 245 166	495 016	15,25

Restraining orders

Since the introduction of the Austrian Protection against Violence Act in 1997 (last amended in 2019), the police have been able to impose restraining orders (“Betretungs- und Annäherungsverbot”) to protect a person and their home as well as their personal space. Perpetrators are thus banned from entering the victim’s home and from approaching victims in a 100-meter radius. This measure is predominantly used in the context of domestic violence. The police must report each restraining order to the violence protection centres, which publish the corresponding statistics.

Fig. 1: BV/AV submitted to Austrian violence protection centres (1997-2022; Note: Data from 2020 onwards is not directly comparable with that of previous years due to a change in counting).

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2. Costs of domestic violence

European investigation into the costs of gender-based violence

EIGE 2021: The cost of gender-based violence in the European Union. [Accessed: 23.01.2024]

The study estimates the costs of gender-based violence (GBV) based on the methodology developed by EIGE in 2014 and presents updated data. The focus is on intimate partner violence (IPV). Costs in three major areas were taken into account: 1) Economic performance, 2) costs to public services and 3) costs due to the physical and emotional consequences for victims of violence.

Link to the report: https://eige.europa.eu/publications/costs-gender-based-violence-european-union [Accessed: 23.01.2024]

Detailed information on methodology and data can be found in the Technical Report: https://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/mh0321358enn_002.pdf [Accessed: 23.01.2024]

For Austria, the report estimates the annual costs caused by gender-based violence and violence in intimate relationships as follows:

Table 2: Costs of GBV and IPV in Austria (rounded)

Country	Costs of GBV against women	Total costs of GBV	Costs of against women	Total costs of IPV
Austria	5,8 billions	7,3 billions	3,0 billions	3,5 billions

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3. Age distribution of domestic violence

Overview

Kapella, Olaf et al. (2011): Gewalt in der Familie und im nahen sozialen Umfeld. Österreichische Prävalenzstudie zur Gewalt an Frauen und Männern. ÖIF. [Accessed: 23.01.2024]

The 2011 prevalence study provides an overview of women’s and men’s experiences of violence, broken down by age, but without a focus on domestic violence or violence in relationships.

Fig. 2: Prevalence of different forms of violence for men and women of different age groups

Violence during childhood

As part of the prevalence study by Kapella et al. (2011), the extent to which different age groups were affected by violence in childhood was also surveyed, which is of particular interest with regard to effects of these experiences later in life. The results clearly show the changes in society over the last few decades.

“The age-specific analysis shows that the older generation experienced violence significantly more often in their childhood than younger people. This is particularly evident in the case of physical acts of violence. Social developments in recent decades led to corporal punishment of children becoming less tolerated, both socially and legally. For example, while eight out of ten women and almost nine out of ten men aged 51 to 60 were exposed to physical violence in their childhood (men: 86.3%; women 80.8%), around 55% of both men and women aged 16 to 20 today report experiencing physical violence. The proportion of those physically abused in childhood has therefore fallen by around 25 to 30 percentage points between the oldest and youngest age groups.”

Kapella et al 2011, p. 11; see also p. 8-10

Age of victims in judicial proceedings because of partner violence

Haller, Birgitt et al (2021): Judicial settlement of partner violence cases. IKF Vienna. [No full text, accessed: 23.01.2024]

The study, which was completed in 2021, analysed a representative sample of files from public prosecutors’ offices and courts throughout Austria from the year 2019. Proceedings for murder, (grievous) bodily harm, (grievous) coercion, dangerous threats, continued use of violence, rape and sexual assault were included. Not only was the judicial outcome of the proceedings recorded, but also additional data such as socio-economic characteristics of the victim and suspect/perpetrator, relationship status, history of violence, victim testimony and the use of court assistance.

In 32% of the cases included in the study, the age of the victims was between 18 and 30 years. Older age groups were less strongly represented: In 27% of the proceedings, victims were between 31 and 40 years old, in 25% between 41 and 50 and in only 15% over 50. The sample included two cases with underage victims of partner violence (16 and 17 years old), and six women were over 71 years old. Overall, the average age was 38 years.

Table 3: Age of victims in judicial proceedings

	Absolute	Relative (%)
16 to 17 years	2	0,7
18 to 24 years	43	15,3
25 to 30 years	48	17,1
31 to 35 years	38	13,5
36 to 40 years	37	13,2
41 to 45 years	37	13,2
46 to 50 years	33	11,7
51 to 55 years	18	6,4
56 to 60 years	11	3,9
61 to 65 years	5	1,8
66 to 70 years	3	1,1
71 to 81 years	6	2,1
Total	281	100,0

Counselling cases in violence protection centres

In 2022, 23,638 people were counselled by the nine violence protection centres throughout Austria (Federal Association of Violence Protection Centres. [accessed: 23.01.2024]). 6,757 of these clients were supported by the Vienna Intervention Centre, which provides a breakdown by age in its 2022 annual report. Even though this data only covers the Vienna area, it approximately reflects the distribution across different age groups.

Table 4: Age of clients of the Intervention Centre/Violence Protection Centre Vienna 2022

Age	Number female	Percentage female	Number male	Percentage male	Total number	Total percentage
0 to 10	211	4,0%	191	15,5%	402	6,1%
11 to 14	110	2,1%	112	9,1%	222	3,4%
15 to 18	234	4,4%	102	8,3%	336	5,1%
19 to 21	281	5,3%	65	5,3%	346	5,3%
22 to 30	1.246	23,4%	193	15,7%	1.439	22,0%
31 to 40	1.585	29,8%	218	17,7%	1.803	27,5%
41 to 50	1.007	18,9%	177	14,4%	1.184	18,1%
51 to 60	424	8,0%	140	11,4%	564	8,6%
61 to 70	137	2,6%	2	0,2%	139	2,1%
71 to 80	57	1,1%	18	1,5%	75	1,1%
Above 80	27	0,5%	11	0,9%	38	0,6%
Unknown	156	2,8%	53	4,1%	209	3,1%
Total	5.475	100,0%	1.282	100,0%	6.757	100,0%

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4. Number of deaths

Haller, Birgitt/Eberhardt, Viktoria/Temel, Brigitte (2023): Untersuchung Frauenmorde – eine quantitative und qualitative Analyse. IKF Vienna. [Accessed 23.01.2024]

The IKF Vienna study analysed all court files on femicides – i.e., murders of women because of their gender – in the period from 2016 to 2020. In these five years, 100 women and girls were killed, mainly by (ex-)partners and relatives.

Fig. 3: Number of femicides by year (n=100)

Table 5: Relationship between victims and perpatrators (n=100)

	Number	Percentage
Intimate relationship or marriage	57	57,0
Former partnership	17	17,0
Kinship	19	19,0
Friendship / close relationship	4	4,0
24-hour relationship	2	2,0
none	1	1,0
Total	100	100,0

Table 6: Age of victims (n=100) compared to the female population in Austria

	Number	Percentage	Female Population* (%)
Below 14	3	3,0	13,8
14 to 17	4	4,0	14 to 19: 5,1
18 to 29	14	14,0	20 to 29: 12,4
30 to 39	20	20,0	13,0
40 to 49	13	13,0	14,7
50 to 59	17	17,0	14,5
60 to 69	6	6,0	11,1
Above 70	22	22,0	15,5
n.d.	1	1,0	—
Total	100	100,0	100**