Expert Interview – “We Need Homicide Analyzes” As New Measure

Victim protection is coming back to the fore with the recent murder in Pinzgau. The “crown” met Christina Riezler, who has been in charge of the center for violence protection in Salzburg since March:

„krone“: Mrs. Riezler, how do you assess the current situation in the area of ​​victim protection?
Christina Riezler: There are a number of opportunities for improvement, such as violence ambulances, where professionals can create facts for the court with low-threshold investigations. Victims of violence always have a different understanding of injury. For example, no one would go to the hospital for a bruise. But it would be evidence in court. The government plans to implement it. It would also be important to solve the problem of data protection.

What do you mean?
It’s absurd. In the event of domestic violence, persons at risk have been required to follow compulsory supervision since September. If the risk of further acts of violence is estimated to be high, the offender consultancy can only exchange information with the victim protection center if the offender agrees.

Conferences on security police affairs have been held since the fall. Good measure?
Certainly, because it is important that governments and institutions enter into dialogue with each other in order to find solutions. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes too long with the appointments. An important measure would be additional analyzes of murder cases. By looking back we were able to draw conclusions, also valuable for processing.

What do you think of the existing contact ban?
We have one of the best laws in Austria and it serves to break the spiral of violence. As long as men think they are worth more, there will be violence against women. Regular table jokes are already a breeding ground for this. Men have to intervene themselves.