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+

Órdenes policiales de alejamiento emitidas (2022)

25,114

Víctimas de violencia doméstica atendidas (2022)

17+

Países que replican el modelo

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

La Ley de Protección contra la Violencia de Austria (Gewaltschutzgesetz, 1997; revisada en 2000, 2009 y 2019) fue la primera ley europea dedicada a la protección contra la violencia doméstica. Combina órdenes policiales de alejamiento de emergencia ('quien pega se va'), medidas cautelares civiles y Centros de Intervención financiados por el Estado que contactan proactivamente a las víctimas mediante un modelo de exclusión voluntaria.

Results

En 2022, la policía austriaca emitió más de 14.600 órdenes de alejamiento y los Centros de Intervención apoyaron a 25.114 víctimas. La primera evaluación temática del GREVIO sobre Austria (2024) elogió el sistema de órdenes de alejamiento y las reformas MARAC de 2019. El 'modelo austriaco' ha sido adoptado por más de 17 países europeos.

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.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-20
Federal Ministry for Women and Equality (BMFGJ) / Federal Association of Violence Protection Centres Austria — accessed 2026-06-20
Federal Ministry for Women — Domestic Violence (bmfwf.gv.at) — accessed 2026-06-20
GREVIO 2024 Thematic Report on Austria (full PDF, Council of Europe) — accessed 2026-06-20
Federal Association of Violence Protection Centres — Statement (Council of Europe rm.coe.int) — accessed 2026-06-20

Quality score: 100/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 1% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability3/3

The 'Austrian model' is explicitly named as such in Council of Europe and UN Women documents; 17+ European countries have adopted comparable barring-order and intervention-centre legislation based on this framework.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Over 25,000 domestic violence victims receive pro-active support annually from publicly funded Intervention Centres; the pro-active referral model improves safety outcomes compared to reactive systems.

Effectiveness1/1

Police are legally required to issue barring orders and notify Intervention Centres; compliance is monitored within 3 days; GREVIO (2024) confirmed the system is functioning as intended.

Efficiency1/1

Police-issued barring orders and publicly financed Intervention Centres provide an integrated response at lower cost than refuge-based models, keeping victims in their homes.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

GREVIO's 2024 thematic evaluation (Council of Europe) assessed the system independently; FH Campus Wien conducted a scientific evaluation of the 2019 amendment using mixed methods.

Sustainability1/1

The framework has operated continuously since 1997, with legislative improvements in 2000, 2009 and 2019, and is publicly financed at federal level with no sunset provisions.

Achievement / evidence1/1

14,600+ restraining orders issued and 25,114 victims supported in 2022; the model is explicitly replicated in 17+ European countries; praised by GREVIO 2024 thematic report.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

GBV prevention is structurally embedded in Austrian civil, criminal and police law with mandatory inter-agency coordination across police, courts and social services.

Curator validation1/1

Sources include the Austrian Federal Ministry for Women and Equality, the GREVIO 2024 thematic report (Council of Europe), and the Federal Association of Violence Protection Centres (filed with Council of Europe).

Cite this

Evidoria. Austria's Violence Protection Act and Intervention Centres (Gewaltschutzgesetz 1997/2019). Persistent ID: 21e107f0-1c05-4a4f-b7c0-62367981edf3.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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