Universal Periodic Review

Examine the Covid-19-related long-term consequences for the state of human rights protection in Austria with a special focus on the situation of women and children affected by domestic violence

Proponent:

Remarks to progress by Liga (last modified Dec 31, 2024):

The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to far-reaching restrictions on fundamental human and children’s rights in Austria (personal freedom, freedom of movement, education, health, etc.). However, there has been no review of the experiences to date; the federal government announced an analysis process led by the Academy of Sciences in May 2023; however, the involvement of civil society in the process remains unclear. In March 2023, the Austrian Children’s Rights Network, with the support of the Ministry of Social Affairs, published a „Corona Special Report“, which takes a detailed look at the many detrimental consequences of the fight against the pandemic for children (in the areas of civil liberties, information and participation, education, teaching, leisure, mental health, poverty, protection against violence and child rights monitoring) („Children’s Rights and Corona“ special report: here).   The LBI-GMR is running two projects in 2023 on crisis management and children’s rights, including a series of workshops with children and young people on their insights from the pandemic (available on the website: https://gmr.lbg.ac.at/forschung/menschenwuerde-und-oeffentliche-sicherheit/).   There has been an increase in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the current state of affairs shows that Austria’s measures and resources to combat domestic violence are inadequate. The rising number of cases of domestic violence during the pandemic has been repeatedly addressed by non-governmental organisations. Other effects of the COVID-19 pandemic include an increased suicide rate, including among young people, and a greater need for psychosocial support. The federal government is currently not systematically analysing and investigating the causes. It would be desirable to advance research here, not only to counter the specific effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to be able to design measures in a more human rights-compliant manner in a comparable crisis in the future;