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Women's shelters in Germany: there is a lack of money and places

2021-02-10T08:40:20.326Z


In the pandemic, women and children are particularly at risk of experiencing violence. But there are thousands of women's shelter places missing in Germany. There is a lack of money and the employees are overloaded. A nationwide research shows what this means for those affected. 


In the pandemic, women and children are particularly at risk of experiencing violence.

But there are thousands of women's shelter places missing in Germany.

There is a lack of money and the employees are overloaded.

A nationwide research shows what this means for those affected. 

  • A joint research by Buzzfeed News Deutschland in cooperation with Correctiv.Lokal shows that women's shelters often have to turn away women affected by violence.

  • Dozens of employees report precarious conditions in an exclusive survey.

  • The situation deteriorated further during the corona pandemic.

    More than one in four employees indicates that more women sought protection than in the previous year.

A nationwide research by BuzzFeed News Deutschland * and Correctiv.Lokal shows how difficult it is for women to find protection from violence.

The system is fragile: there is a shortage of places, there is a lack of money and the staff is often at their limit.

The situation has deteriorated further during the corona pandemic

All over Germany there are around 370 women's shelters in which women and children can find shelter if they have experienced psychological or physical violence.

Only Bremen and Berlin currently meet the recommendations of the Council of Europe, all other countries offer too few places. It looks particularly bad in Saarland, Saxony and Bavaria.

If you measure the number of places at the Istanbul Convention ratified by Germany, there is a lack of around 14,000 places in women's shelters nationwide.

Some employees had to turn away hundreds of women in need

Correctiv.Lokal and BuzzFeed News have evaluated a survey among 92 women workers from women's shelters across Germany.

Individual houses had to turn away dozens, some even hundreds, of women in the past year.

 "It just feels terrible that a woman has to beg to be admitted to a women's shelter," says Anja Kröber, an employee of the autonomous women's shelter in Oldenburg, in an interview with BuzzFeed News.

Last year, almost five times as many women and children had to be turned away there as could be accepted.

Some women have already been turned away from so many houses that they offer to sleep on the floor, says Kröber.

"During the easing after the lockdown, the facility was overcrowded for weeks," says Nurdan Kaya from the central emergency room in Hamburg women's shelters.

Women then slept in the living room or on extra beds.

 The employees are also overloaded.

98 percent of those surveyed state that they lack staff.

The fact that they have to reject women is not only due to a lack of space and resources, but also to financial problems: one in ten employees surveyed stated in the survey that they had to reject a woman because they did not have the money.

Financing women's shelters is like a patchwork quilt

Financing women's shelters is like a patchwork quilt.

Sometimes the stay is free, as in Schleswig-Holstein, sometimes the women themselves have to pay monthly for accommodation and care.

This quickly adds up to several hundred euros per month.

The job center pays the costs for some women, but others are completely excluded from the system: pensioners, trainees or women without a secure residence status.

The Central Information Center for Autonomous Women's Shelters is demanding firm commitments for regular funds.

Every woman should be able to be admitted without exceptions or special regulations.

“We want a nationwide uniform financing, that part comes from the federal government, from the municipality, from the state.

That we can freely decide who to take in, ”says Britta Schlichting.

Corona has made the situation even more difficult

And another problem has become even clearer during the pandemic than before: women cannot find affordable housing if they want to return to an independent life.

As a result, they stay in the women's shelters longer than necessary, which increases the lack of space.

The already precarious condition in the women's shelters has been exacerbated by the Corona crisis.

More than one in four employees stated in the survey that more women sought protection with them compared to the previous year.

Some employees report that violence against women has increased overall.

At the same time, the houses are getting more support in the pandemic: some federal states have set up emergency aid, states and municipalities are injecting money.

The federal government provides a funding program with 120 million. 

The virus has made the situation in the women's shelters more difficult.

“We have to protect women and children.

We have to prevent the virus from being dragged into the house by the residents themselves, but also by the employees, ”says Ortrud Glowatzki from the Lüchow women's and children's home in Lower Saxony.

* BuzzFeed News Germany is part of the Ippen-Digital network

A detailed version of this research can be found at BuzzFeed News Germany.

You can contact the research team at BuzzFeed News at recherche@buzzfeed.de.

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This research is part of a cooperation between BuzzFeed News and CORRECTIV.Lokal, a network for local journalism that implements data-driven and investigative research together with local editorial staff.

CORRECTIV.Lokal is part of the non-profit research center CORRECTIV, which is financed by donations from citizens and foundations.

All publications from all media on the topic: correctiv.org/haeusliche-gewalt

Further information on research:

Correctiv.Lokal invited 364 women's shelters to participate in a survey.

The results include responses from 92 women's shelter employees from 14 federal states.

The results of the survey are not representative and were created without scientific support.

Here you can find all articles from BuzzFeed News Germany.

You can also find more research from BuzzFeed News Germany on Facebook and Twitter or in the RSS feed.

More information about our reporters, our view of journalism and all contact details - also anonymous and secure - can be found on this page.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-02-10

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