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Good practice

Austria's Violence Protection Act and Intervention Centres (Gewaltschutzgesetz 1997/2019)

Austria · Vienna · See the Austria profile

Austria's Violence Protection Act (1997, rev. 2019) requires immediate police barring orders and pro-active referral to state-funded Intervention Centres. 14,600+ annual orders; 25,000+ victims reached; replicated in 17+ European countries.

14,600+
Police barring orders issued (2022)
25,114
Domestic-violence victims supported (2022)
17+
Countries replicating the model

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Federal Ministry for Women and Equality (BMFGJ) / Federal Association of Violence Protection Centres Austria
Period
1997–present
Keywords
domestic violence, barring orders, intervention centres, GBV prevention, victim support, safety

Context

Austria's Violence Protection Act (Gewaltschutzgesetz, 1997; revised 2000, 2009 and 2019) was Europe's first dedicated domestic-violence protection law. It combines emergency police barring orders ('whoever hits must leave'), civil injunctions, and state-funded Intervention Centres that pro-actively contact victims on an opt-out basis.

Results

In 2022 Austrian police issued over 14,600 barring orders and Intervention Centres supported 25,114 victims. GREVIO's first thematic evaluation of Austria (2024) praised the barring-order system and the 2019 MARAC reforms. The 'Austrian model' has been adopted by 17+ European countries.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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