Strengthen mental health – through a more women-friendly world!
Vienna (OTS) – On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024, the Professional Association of Austrian Psychologists (BÖP) emphasizes the urgent need to address structural problems in dealing with gender-based violence against women and to further advance gender equality.
Gender equality was enshrined in law in Austria – at least on paper – as early as 1918. The sad reality, however, is that women’s equality has not been implemented in any way – even 106 years later – and Austria performs particularly poorly in questions of women’s equality, consistently below the European standard. So women are still disadvantaged and discriminated against. This is particularly evident in areas such as unpaid care work, wage inequality and the alarming numbers of femicides and violence. The increase in violence and poor social conditions significantly weaken women’s mental health.
45 days of unpaid work
In Austria, there is an alarmingly high gender pay gap between women and men compared to other European countries. The current amount is Gender pay gap at 12.4% these are 45 calendar days, the women mathematically work unpaid. Women take on a large part of the unpaid care work and are 25% more likely than men to be at risk of poverty in old age due to a longer period out of work.
The order of the day: femicide, mental, physical and sexual violence
Be at the current time seven women’s lives lost recorded, and this only at the beginning of the new year. Austria is therefore the only country in the EU where more women than men are killed by men. Mental, physical and sexual violence weakens women’s mental health. According to the WHO, women who experience violence are twice to three times more likely to suffer violence depressions to become ill than women without experience of violence.
“Regardless of the many tragic individual fates that we face every day, by weakening women we risk a dramatic destabilization of society,” said BÖP President ao. University Prof. Dr. Beate Wimmer-Puchinger. “Men and women benefit equally from empowering women. It is completely incomprehensible to me why we as a society do not significantly improve the conditions for women.”
Women’s rights are human rights and femicides are structural social problems
Many women live in constant overwhelm and fear. That’s why the BÖP is demanding more Relief offers, advice centers and better social conditions, which are urgently necessary for women to secure their own livelihoods. Furthermore, it is crucial to recognize femicide as a deep-rooted structural problem anchored in society’s norms, cultural beliefs and institutional dynamics. These acts of violence are facilitated by patriarchal structures and value systems, which manifest themselves in various aspects, including a lack of adequate legal protection, an unequal distribution of power, the consolidation of stereotypical gender roles and the normalization of misogyny.
It is crucial that society commits resolutely to gender equality and that women are given the same rights and opportunities as men to live a life free from violence and discrimination.
Questions & Contact:
Professional Association of Austrian Psychologists (BÖP)
Christina Rieger, BA, press and public relations
Tel.: 0670/35 41 296, press@boep.at
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