Evaluation of "StoP - Neighborhoods without Partner Violence”

An evaluation team accompanied the pilot project "StoP - Neighborhoods without Partner Violence" from its start on January 1, 2019, until November 2021. The project was implemented in Margareten, the 5th district of Vienna, by the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters – AÖF. Its concept was developed in Germany by Sabine Stövesand and envisages that residents of a district or neighborhood are sensitized by experts to the perception of violence and thus empowered to take action against partner violence.

Within three years the pilot project has implemented various steps, starting with the organization and financing of the project, the implementation of a social space analysis and activating surveys in the neighborhood, as well as the establishment of neighborhood networks. The core of StoP is the establishment of so-called women's and men's tables, i.e. groups of committed neighbors who meet regularly to acquire knowledge about intimate partner violence but also to test ways of reacting, and finally to become active themselves against violence and to support others in doing so. Strengthening civil courage plays a central role in this. It is important for the community project to expand local networks and to involve residents as well as associations and businesses located in the district.

The establishment of the "tables" was severely hampered by multiple lockdowns because of COVID-19, but by summer 2020 at the latest, a "core cast" had come together at the women's table. The women developed and carried out various activities to make the project better known in the neighborhood, but were also prepared to bring the project's concerns to a wider public, for example by appearing in TV documentaries and radio programs. The anchoring of the men's Table proved to be much more difficult. Although the participating men were highly motivated and designed several sustainable projects, the central problem was the low response in the neighborhood. The varying degrees of interest can certainly be explained in part by the level of concern: Establishing gender equity is apparently more significant for women than for men. (In a follow-up project, the IKF will evaluate the establishment of two more men's tables in Vienna by the end of 2023).

As early as 2020, the AÖF received several inquiries from Viennese districts and some federal states as to whether and how the project could be taken over. The pilot project became a successful model by 2021 at the latest, which was reflected on the one hand in a high media presence and on the other hand in the - probably related - commitment of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection in June 2021 to promote the roll-out of StoP to the entire federal territory.

https://stop-partnergewalt.org/