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How does a man become a perpetrator? The work of Christoph Gosteli (38) revolves around this question. The social worker works at the Mannebüro Züri, an advice and information center for perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence. Anyone who comes to him has beaten, threatened or sexually assaulted a woman. The goal of counseling is that he doesn’t do it again.
“Victims often don’t even want punishment, they just want the perpetrators to realize what they have done,” says Gosteli. In a conversation with an offender, they worked on his crime, trained self-awareness: “If he gets into a similar situation again, he needs to recognize when he gets into the same water again.” In addition, much of the counseling revolves around the topic of masculinity. “Sexualized violence often has to do with concepts of masculinity,” says Gosteli. With misconceptions about masculinity.
Perpetrators in the picture
Today, Gosteli and his colleagues mainly advise men who seek help themselves. But should courts be able to force sex offenders into such programs in the future?
The Council of States will decide on this on Tuesday when it talks again about updating the sex criminal law. The core of the proposal, and at the same time the most controversial part, is a redefinition of rape (see box). Because the National Council wants to do things differently than the Council of States, the latter has to go through the books again.
Saying no is not enough. Today, rape occurs when a woman is forced to have sex with physical or psychological violence. Male rape victims? Can’t even legally exist these days.
There is no doubt that the offense should be reformulated in a gender-neutral way. Likewise, physical or psychological violence should no longer be a precondition for the existence of a rape.
However, the National Council and the Council of States do not agree on whether the objection or consent solution should apply in the future. The consent solution – known as “yes means yes” – defines a sexual assault as a sexual act without a person’s consent. The contradiction solution, on the other hand, as a sexual act that someone does not say no to.
Surprisingly, in December, the National Council came out in favor of the more far-reaching “Yes is yes” rule – it was a lobbying success for organizations like Amnesty International, which have been fighting for the consent solution for years. For the Council of States, on the other hand, this regulation goes too far.
The small chamber’s legal committee is now proposing a compromise. They want to stick to the “No is no” rule, but with an addition: the so-called freezing, which is often observed in victims, should be explicitly stated in the law. This means: It is also punishable if a victim does not explicitly say no because he is in a state of shock.
It is likely that this compromise will eventually prevail. However, the supporters of the “yes is yes” solution have made it clear that they will fight to the end. But against the majority of the middle class in the Council of States, they are likely to lose out in the end.
Saying no is not enough. Today, rape occurs when a woman is forced to have sex with physical or psychological violence. Male rape victims? Can’t even legally exist these days.
There is no doubt that the offense should be reformulated in a gender-neutral way. Likewise, physical or psychological violence should no longer be a precondition for the existence of a rape.
However, the National Council and the Council of States do not agree on whether the objection or consent solution should apply in the future. The consent solution – known as “yes means yes” – defines a sexual assault as a sexual act without a person’s consent. The contradiction solution, on the other hand, as a sexual act that someone does not say no to.
Surprisingly, in December, the National Council came out in favor of the more far-reaching “Yes is yes” rule – it was a lobbying success for organizations like Amnesty International, which have been fighting for the consent solution for years. For the Council of States, on the other hand, this regulation goes too far.
The small chamber’s legal committee is now proposing a compromise. They want to stick to the “No is no” rule, but with an addition: the so-called freezing, which is often observed in victims, should be explicitly stated in the law. This means: It is also punishable if a victim does not explicitly say no because he is in a state of shock.
It is likely that this compromise will ultimately prevail. However, the supporters of the “yes is yes” solution have made it clear that they will fight to the end. But against the majority of the middle class in the Council of States, they are likely to lose out in the end.
Until now, parliament mainly spoke about the victims, now the focus is on the perpetrators. The Legal Committee of the Council of States proposes to its council to include a new element in the model in the additional loop: offenders should not only be fined or imprisoned, but it should also be possible to force them to participate to a “learning process”. program”. .
‘Perpetrator work is victim protection’
The Commission, which has prepared the reform of sexual criminal law, unanimously supports this proposal. It can therefore be assumed that the Council of States will vote for this.
SP alderman Tamara Funiciello (32) had already called for such prevention courses in the debate in the National Council. However, she wanted them to become mandatory for all convicted sex offenders — which was going too far for a middle-class majority. The compromise of the Council of States, on the other hand, should also receive approval in the National Council.
Violence adviser Christoph Gosteli would like it if prevention work were legally enshrined. “Perpetrator work is victim protection,” he clarifies. “We absolutely need offers for victims, which should also be expanded further.” At the same time, however, one must also invest in working with offenders.
“Nowadays it has been made very easy for perpetrators to just disappear in the dark,” he says. Men who don’t realize they have a problem should be forced to face it.
Studies show that criminal work pays
Tamara Funiciello shares this view. The proposal of the legal committee of the Council of States was a “great success for the feminist movement”, she said on behalf of the SP women after the committee’s decision last January. She refers to figures showing that offenders who were in violence therapy or had to follow a learning trajectory had a significantly lower recidivism rate.
In fact, a review by the Zurich authorities of learning programs for domestic violence offenders in 2021 indicates that such programs can be very successful, at least in the medium term. In two years, none of the graduates had reappeared on the police radar. In addition, it was concluded that such programs were also financially worthwhile. Preventing an act of violence is significantly cheaper than paying for the consequences.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
