Simple language

Many women and children experience violence every day.

Overview

Who we are

Our support

Are you in need?

Are you looking for a place in a women’s shelter?

Do you need counseling?

Are you in immediate danger?

Packing List

Counseling center

Our counselling centre

Do you need help?

Do you need counseling?

Women's shelters and information

Our Women’s Shelters

The Women’s Shelter in Münster

The Women’s Shelter in Telgte

Getting to the Women’s Shelter

Life in the Women’s Shelter

Children in the Women’s Shelter

Our Organization

One in three women in Germany experiences violence.

What Is Violence?

The law is on your side

The Police Act of North Rhine-Westphalia

Info and Links

There are many support services and information centers.

Donations

You can donate

Donations information

All donations are tax-deductible. Donation receipts will be issued.

Please provide your address for this purpose.

For donations up to €300, proof via bank statement is sufficient for tax purposes.

If you’d like to support a specific project, please indicate this under “Purpose” (e.g., Women’s Shelter Münster/Telgte or Women’s Counseling Center).´

Donation Account
Frauenhaus und Beratung e.V.
Sparkasse Münsterland Ost
IBAN: DE45 4005 0150 0000 3015 98
BIC: WELADED1MST

Intersectionality

A person can face multiple forms of discrimination for different reasons.

This might be due to their gender, skin color, social class, a disability, or sexual orientation.

All these aspects of a person are interconnected and influence each other.

This means everyone has their own experiences with discrimination and may face multiple forms of discrimination for different characteristics.

For instance:

  • A Black woman might be treated differently than a white woman because she is both a woman and Black, and these two factors interact.
  • A refugee woman with a disability might face racist discrimination, discrimination for being a woman, and challenges due to her disability (e.g., lack of accessibility in public spaces).

All these factors work together, making the person’s situation more difficult.

Patriarchal Violence

Patriarchal violence affects many areas of the society we live in. Everything considered “female” is subordinated to what is “male.” Men have historically enjoyed and still have many advantages over women, along with more power.

This occurs both at home and in public spaces – for example, at work, in politics, in government agencies, or in social environments.

Violence happens because many people think men are better or more important than women.

This often leads to women doing unpaid caregiving and household work, earning less money, or lacking access to education and school.

Patriarchal violence often aims to ensure that people who do not fit the accepted image of masculinity are oppressed and have less power.

Patriarchal violence also means that men or groups of men use violence to maintain power over women and other genders.

This violence can be physical, verbal, or take the form of control over finances.

Examples include when men:

  • Hit women
  • Harass women
  • Insult, suppress, or treat women unfairly