(Vienna, 24 November 2023) Every year, as part of the UN "Orange the World" campaign, actions against violence against women take place worldwide between November 25 and December 10. Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna are once again taking part in the international campaign in 2023. During the 16 days against violence against women, measures to protect victims and prevent violence will be discussed on the various channels of the two institutions, and in the interdisciplinary lecture series "One in Five", experts will shed light on various forms of violence experienced primarily by women, but also by men in institutions and in relationships. The main entrances to University Hospital Vienna and the Rectorate building will also be illuminated in the campaign color orange again this year.
Hospitals are often the first point of contact for women who have experienced violence and play a central role in victim protection when injuries are not only treated, but also addressed and documented. University Hospital Vienna was one of the first hospitals in Austria to set up its own hospital-wide victim protection group at the end of 2010, made up of representatives from various professional groups such as nursing, doctors, therapists, radiologists and midwives. The team raises awareness of the issue of violence in the outpatient departments and wards and provides support if injuries due to violence are detected in patients.
Since 2011, a crisis outpatient clinic focusing on victim and child protection has been available to affected women at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna. By telephone appointment, those affected receive gynecological care, evidence is secured and information is provided about further support services. Those affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) are also treated at the crisis outpatient clinic. A crisis outpatient clinic was also set up at the Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma-Surgery in October 2023 as an area in which those affected are also treated particularly frequently. Victims of violence receive further trauma surgery and clinical-psychological care in the outpatient clinic.
How violence can be recognized, addressed and documented is explained to students in the interdisciplinary lecture series "One in Five". The initiative by Andrea Berzlanovich from MedUni Vienna's Center for Forensic Medicine is a collaboration with the Association of Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters (AÖF) and the Austrian Ombudsman Board and focuses on institutional and domestic violence in 2023. Healthcare professionals, the Austrian Ombudsman Board and staff from anti-violence advice centers will present various prevention and intervention measures in the lecture series.
Staff and students at MedUni Vienna have the opportunity to take part in the online lecture "There are no gray areas" with Sara Hassan. The author has developed a model to identify the first signs of sexual harassment and discusses the social dynamics that promote sexual harassment and the strategies that can be used to support those affected. The lecture will be organized via the cross-university network of the Gender Platform.
During the campaign period, experts will present the institutions and projects in more detail on the social media channels of University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna.
Links:
- Ringvorlesung „Eine von fünf“ 2023
- Opferschutzgruppe im AKH Wien
- Krisenambulanz an der Universitätsklinik für Frauenheilkunde
- Unfallchirurgische Krisenambulanz