The number of rapes in Austria rose by 43.3 percent compared to the previous year. Ministry of the Interior and Justice want to counteract.

law against rape

The number of rapes in Austria rose by 43.3 percent compared to the previous year. Compared to 2014, these are 52.6 percent more sex offenders. This is evident from current figures of the Ministry of the Interior. In order to counteract this, the turquoise-blue government has agreed on a general ban on completely conditional prison sentences for rapists. This was announced by Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ), Minister of Justice Josef Moser (ÖVP) and State Secretary Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP).

The concrete changes: For raped should be no longer exclusively conditional imprisonment, but at least part of the punishment necessarily. “This is to be achieved by raising the minimum sentence and by changing the sentencing criteria,” says the government.

Interior Minister Kickl justifies the lifelong affliction that victims of sexual violence often face, “there can be no pardon for the perpetrators.” A purely conditional detention is not an option, “the perpetrators must feel the full severity of the law.” Secretary of State for the Interior Ministry, Edtstadler, once again insisted on stricter punishment for violence and sexual offenses on Sunday. In this respect, the “out for completely conditional imprisonment in case of rape is the right signal”.

Moser emphasized that further steps were being discussed in the Task Force: “More and more recently, there have been cases in which victims have been severely traumatized or acts of particular brutality have been committed, and I can definitely see a tightening of sentences here.”

Sources: Die Presse