Revisiting Violence Protection in Refugee Accommodations: Impacts and Blind Spots

Consensus and Conflict Department

Project head: Dr. Friederike Römer ,  Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak

Project team members: Sifka Etlar Frederiksen ,  Dr. Jakob Henninger

Protecting residents of refugee accommodations from violence is an important political and societal responsibility. At the same time, evidence on the implementation and effectiveness of specific violence protection measures remains limited, both among accommodation operators and within the scientific literature.

Against this backdrop, the digital DeZIM Violence Protection Monitor was developed in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), UNICEF Germany, and civil society partner organizations as part of the federal initiative “Protection of Refugees in Refugee Accommodations.” This monitor enables the documentation and evaluation of the implementation of the Minimum Standards for the Protection of Refugees in Refugee Accommodations (hereinafter referred to as Minimum Standards).

This project builds on the experiences and data gathered through the use of the tool to pursue three key objectives:

1. Optimizing the existing Violence Protection Monitor;
2. Examining the introduction of protection measures and their impact on the frequency and nature of violence incidents in accommodations;
3. Investigating how the Violence Protection Monitor influences the construction of violence protection measures and the scope for action within individual accommodations.

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)