P101 - The role of the Berlin public prosecutor's office in cases of intimate partner violence against women

• In Event: Poster Session & Ice Cream Social

Abstract

Intimate partner violence against women is recognised as a significant problem in many countries, particularly due to the alarming number of femicides as the ultimate escalation stage. Politicians and the public often encourage women to report their violent partners or ex-partners. Nevertheless, offences of intimate partner violence go through a complex filtering process before a conviction is made. Dark field research studies show that only around 15% of victims of such violence actually report the offence. Among the German federal states, only Berlin publishes statistics on how the public prosecutor's office decides in cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence. Findings from these statistics show that around 80% of cases are dropped due to insufficient evidence. This judicial filtering process goes even further, and the result is at odds with appeals to women to involve the prosecution authorities at an early stage. So far, the role of the public prosecutor's office as a filter has hardly been investigated in Germany.
This poster presents the preliminary results of an explorative, qualitative analysis of files from the Berlin public prosecutor's office and a group interview with the public prosecutors. The aim is to show which factors can lead to charges being brought and whether a systematic approach can be recognised in the decision-making process as a whole. In particular, the requirements of the Istanbul Convention will be analysed. It is suggested that the poster be hung near Katharina Heermann's poster, which also examines the German public prosecutor's office in her research, in order to create a meaningful addition.

Authors

• Laya Alizad, Freie Universität Berlin

• Laya Alizad, Freie Universität Berlin