41 charges per day!

Sachslehner calls for “ankle bracelet for wife beaters”

ÖVP politician Laura Sachslehner calls for an electronic anklet for perpetrators of violence.(Bild: Zwefo)

Domestic violence hotspot - in Spain, courts can order electronic ankle bracelets for monitoring purposes. Around 4000 are already in use. "In my opinion, it is high time we did the same in Austria," said Viennese politician Laura Sachslehner (ÖVP).

Not least the two shocking acts of bloodshed with five female victims in Vienna (as many as in the whole of last year) show: Austria has a problem with violence against women! The police figures also prove this. The so-called expulsions have risen sharply in recent years (see chart below).

While there were 11,652 bans on entering and approaching women in the first year of coronavirus in 2020, this figure rose to a record 15,115 cases last year. That's an average of 41 cases per day. In the sadly violent ranking of the federal states, Vienna (4272 expulsions) leads by a wide margin ahead of Lower Austria (2784), Upper Austria and Styria. In general, almost a quarter of women in Austria have already experienced physical violence.

Here you can see the number of restraining orders issued in the past four years.

Since 2020, the police in Austria have issued more restraining orders every year.(Bild: stock.adobe.com; Krone Kreativ)

"Guaranteeing more safety for affected women"
Now demands are once again being voiced by politicians in the person of the busy Viennese former ÖVP Secretary General Laura Sachslehner. Her plan: "Ankle bracelets for wife beaters like in Spain!" Because there, courts can order electronic monitoring of contact and proximity bans. Around 4000 devices are already in use. The domestic model would also provide for the police to be alerted by the ankle bracelet alarm if a violent (ex-)partner approaches the victim's home without permission.

Laura Sachslehner: "In the fight against violence against women, we should consider every measure that can provide additional security. In my opinion, it is high time that we did the same in Austria."