This year's lecture series "One in Five" was dedicated to the topic of "Domestic violence against women". The kick-off event, which was once again held at the Ombudsman's Office this year, focussed on a special case: when the home is an institution, such as a care home, a residential group for people with disabilities or a shared flat for children and young people. Experts discussed how violence can be prevented there and what those affected, as well as witnesses, can do in the event of a crisis.
Panel discussion with
- Bettina Caspar-Bures, lawyer
- Jakob Kabas, President of "Lebenswelt Heim Bundesverband"
- Monika Rieder-Ehrentraut, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, clearing expert of the Home Victims' Pensions Commission
- Karin Rowhani-Wimmer, lawyer, ethics counsellor, social worker, head of an OPCAT commission of the Austrian Ombudsman Board
- Moderation: Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz
Statements by
- Ombudswoman Gaby Schwarz: Welcome
- Andrea Berzlanovich, MedUni Vienna: One of five - overview of the lecture series
- Maja Markanović-Riedl, Managing Director of Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters
Background
One in five women living in Austria is exposed to physical or sexual violence. In order to actively counteract the taboo and trivialisation of violence, MedUni Vienna's Center for Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters (AÖF) and the Vienna Ombudsman Board, organises the interdisciplinary lecture series "One in Five" for students once a year. This takes place in November and December as part of the "16 days against violence against women and girls" campaign.
Course content of the lecture series "One in Five" 2024
The interdisciplinary lecture series "One in five - step by step out of violence" will be held at the Medical University of Vienna from 25 November to 10 December 2024. Further details can be found here. The continuously updated programme and the speakers' presentations will be available here after the event.
When victims of domestic violence seek medical help, they do not always disclose the causes of their injuries and complaints due to shame and/or fear. Therefore, correctly interpreting existing injury patterns or recognising the violence as a trigger for existing symptoms is not only crucial for the professional care of those affected, but also for the (secondary) prevention of further abuse.
The spiral of violence can often be permanently interrupted through medical intervention by referring patients to appropriate victim protection and support services after treatment and detailed documentation of their injuries. The knowledge required for such needs-based care, counselling and qualified referrals will be presented in detail in the lecture series One of Five. In addition, various prevention and intervention measures will be presented by healthcare professionals, employees of various counselling centres against violence and the Ombudsman's Office.
In the 15th lecture series entitled Step by step out of violence, the individual steps taken by an affected wife and mother of two children on the way to a life free of violence will be discussed by speakers from various professions over a total of seven lecture days, as well as the consequences and support options for the perpetrator.
Aims
The lecture series aims to encourage students from different disciplines to deal intensively with the issue of violence and the resulting health problems for those affected with a view to their future professional practice and in an academic context.
