In October 2019, a man killed his ex-partner and her whole family in a town in West Austria. After that horrific murder, politicians and all the established parties portrayed themselves as the saviours of women. Even the coalition government made up of the far-right FPÖ and the conservative ÖVP had previously, before its collapse in May 2019, introduced a package of measures against violence, which consisted almost exclusively of harsher punishments. This won’t solve the problem of violence against women, femicide and domestic violence.
Forty-one women were killed in Austria in 2018, and at the time writing, by November 2019 there were a further seventeen such murders. In the last four years, the number of femicide cases has more than doubled. One in five women in Austria aged over 15 has already experienced physical and/or sexualised violence. At least one in three women has been sexually harassed. It is neither a coincidence nor due to the male “predilection for violence” that most of the perpetrators are (ex-)partners or other family members. In fact, it is linked to the dominant family structures in the capitalist system that rely on the oppression of women. In Austria, marital rape was legal until 1989. Until 1975, women weren’t allowed to work, choose their surname or determine their place of residence without the permission of their husband or father.
Austerity leads to femicide and violence
Bourgeois media and politicians describe gender violence as an “imported problem”. Their racist propaganda suggests that violence against women has risen as a result of immigration. Particularly since the so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015, the far-right in Austria and Germany exploits women’s rights in their own interests. This is linked to a rise of Islamophobia and the idea that the “Islamic culture” threatens women’s rights in Europe and “progressive western values”. For example, in “value and orientation” courses that refugees are obliged to attend, attendees are told that “Islamic societies” do not respect women’s rights while Austrians do. At the same time, they ignore conservative role models which are very widespread not just in the rural areas, but also in the main stream media, church and politics. And of course, they also ignore rapes and violence committed by Austrian, or German men. Their alleged commitment to women’s rights is only intended to promote their racist and nationalist policies.
Using the defence of women’s rights in this way to introduce harsher punishments helps to legitimise the far-right’s calls for “law and order”. It proves that parties like the FPÖ aren’t really interested in protecting women. On the contrary, it is they who push conservative and misogynistic gender roles and attack women’s rights. It is right-wing politicians and parties like the FPÖ who lead the campaigns against abortion rights and sex education in schools. One FPÖ representative has even proposed increasing the price of contraception.
Their government was responsible for austerity measures. By cutting the resources for social services and women’s shelters as well as reducing the availability of affordable housing, they increase the likelihood of violence against women. Frustration and poverty lead to more violence, especially when women can’t afford to leave their partners. Further cuts in recent months and years have made the economic situation of women even worse. To give an example: in the Spring of 2019, the FPÖ/ÖVP coalition cut the minimum welfare income. This increases the pressure to find work and cuts benefit levels for families with more than one child and especially for single parents, 90% of whom are women, and immigrants, because they need a certificate of language skills. Women are particularly affected by these attacks, because poverty is mostly female. Now they will be even more financially dependent on their partner and/or family, and it will be harder to afford their own flat to escape a violent relationship.
How the housing crisis leads to more violence against women
Two years ago, the FPÖ/ÖVP regional government in Upper Austria introduced new rules to obtain housing benefits. Before, those claiming the benefit had to provide proof of being employed or of receiving social security benefits for 36 months in the past 5 years. Now they have to show 54 month’s proof. German language skills must be demonstrated. And then, the maximum rent on which the benefit will be paid is 7 euros a square meter. Most rents in this region exceed that level, so moving out of a flat shared with a violent partner/family member becomes even more difficult.
Contrary to the claim that there is no housing crisis in Austria, rents have risen by 20% from 2013–18. In the past ten years, rents have risen twice as fast as wages. On average, households have to spend almost 40% of their income on rent. Affordable housing is becoming increasingly scarce. The construction of new flats is mainly targeted at the wealthy.
Even though a comparatively large part of Vienna’s population still lives in the city’s famous public housing, access is getting harder and harder. People have to show that they need a new home by demonstrating why they are eligible for public housing. It is easiest for young people who grew up in Vienna and are leaving their parents. People moving into Vienna from other parts of Austria or from abroad have hardly any chance. Even when eligible for public housing, it is still necessary to wait several years before a flat becomes available. Divorce or the end of a relationship with a violent partner is not listed as one of the reasons to receive public housing. So if a woman wants to escape a violent relationship, she has very little chance of finding an affordable flat. A massive public housing programme is necessary to handle the influx and the need for affordable housing.
In the same way, it is getting more and more difficult to find temporary housing in an emergency situation to end a violent relationship. Women’s shelters are overcrowded and many women are rejected because of the lack of space or because they are already homeless. In rural areas, access is often more limited. In 2018, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs cut the already small subsidies for the Association of Autonomous Women’s Shelters by a further six thousand euros. Over the past two years, subsidies for women’s initiatives, many of which were working or still work against violence, have been cut by more than 400.000 euros.
Homelessness is seen as a male problem. Yet many women live in so-called invisible homelessness, which means that they pay for housing with sex or other services. If they refuse these services, they risk losing their accommodation and having to sleep on the streets or in a shelter, although many shelters are male only. These places are more dangerous for women than for their fellow men. Health conditions, psychological stress and sexualized violence often result from dependencies.
To address these problems, to fight violence against women, we need well-equipped women’s shelters, violence prevention programmes and social improvements. Although it can be emotionally difficult to leave a violent man, we also have to remove the economic hardships. We need equal wages for men and women, better incomes and rents that are affordable, without having to rely on a partner. We therefore fight for rent controls, so people have to pay no more than 10% of their income on rent.
To make flats available, and affordable we need a massive public housing programme managed by tenants, the workers’ movement and neighbourhood committees combined with the expropriation of flats left empty for speculative reasons and the nationalisation of the large housing companies. Immigrants and refugees must have the legal right to work to assure they can live independently. This should be accompanied by a living wage and a reduction of the working week for all to make sure, that there is a proper paid job for everyone. We are opposed to racism and racist measures and policies, for example by landlords. Everyone must have access to affordable flats, women’s shelters and social services.
The ÖGB, the Austrian trade union federation must take action on these issues and organise a trade union campaign against violence against women, both on 25th November and beyond. Violence against women is an important issue not just for the 1,2 million trade union members, but for the working class — male and female — as a whole.