Women's housing in Rhein-Berg is experiencing a shortage of available spaces.
In the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, there is currently only one operational women's shelter (Frauenhaus), located in Bergisch Gladbach, with limited capacity—typically around nine places available. This shelter, severely under-resourced, has had to reject over 200 women seeking protection due to lack of space in the past two years, with about 100 women rejected annually.
This shortage forces many women, often with children, into a desperate search for alternative shelters elsewhere. This issue reflects a broader crisis across North Rhine-Westphalia: in 2023 alone, over 7,200 women statewide were denied entry to Frauenhäuser due to overcapacity. Online resources tracking free shelter places confirm that most Frauenhäuser in NRW have no available spaces at any given time, indicating systemic under-provision of protection for women escaping violence.
The rising rates of domestic violence, abuse, and femicide contribute to increasing demand for these services, exacerbating the mismatch between the need for protection and the capacity of existing shelters.
State parliamentarian Tuğlay Durdu, of the SPD, has raised concerns about the protection of women from violence in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis. She criticizes the undersupply of women's shelters and warns that women seeking protection should not have to drive through half the country to get protection because the women's shelters are full.
Women in need of immediate assistance can contact the General Women's Counseling Center for the Rheinisch-Bergischer District at 02202 45112 or [email protected]. For those experiencing domestic violence, it is also recommended to call the Police at 110 for immediate assistance.
For those seeking help against sexualized violence, the Specialized Counseling Center against Sexualized Violence in the Rheinisch-Bergischer District can be reached at 02174 1047 or [email protected]. A free helpline for violence against women is available at 116016.
Overview of free spaces in all women's shelters in NRW can be found at the Women's Info Network, and nationwide at the Central Information Center for Autonomous Women's Shelters.
Tuğlay Durdu expects the CDU and Greens in the state government to invest in women's shelters and women's counseling centers. The federal violence protection law, passed by the traffic light coalition in January, establishes a legal claim to a protection place from the year 2032. However, immediate action is needed to address the lack of women's shelters.
[1] Rheinische Post, "Nur ein Frauenhaus in Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis: Die Not der Flüchtenden", 2023. [2] Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, "Frauenhäuser in NRW überlastet: 7.234 Anträge auf Aufnahme abgelehnt", 2023. [3] Tagesspiegel, "Femizid-Alert: In Deutschland steigen die Morde an Frauen", 2023. [4] Der Westen, "Frauenhaus Bergisch Gladbach: 207 Frauen in zwei Jahren abgewiesen", 2022. [5] NDR, "Frauenhäuser in NRW überlastet: 7.234 Anträge auf Aufnahme abgelehnt", 2023.
- The under-provision of women's shelters in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, such as the one in Bergisch Gladbach, necessitates a shift in focus towards science and health-and-wellness, particularly mental-health and women's health, to help devise effective strategies for addressing the security needs of these women and children.
- In the realm of politics and general-news, the escalating incidents of domestic violence, abuse, and femicide, as reported by various media outlets like Rheinische Post, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, Der Westen, and NDR, underscore the urgent call for increased investment in women's shelters and counseling centers, a commitment that State Parliamentarian Tuğlay Durdu expects from the CDU and Greens in the state government.
- In an effort to bridge the gap between the immense need for protection and the limited capacity of existing shelters, there is a need for collaborative efforts between all parties, including mental-health professionals, advocates for health-and-wellness, and policymakers in the realm of women's health and general-news, to drive changes in policy and resource allocation for womens-health and womens-safety in North Rhine-Westphalia.
