Violence prevention and intervention is a cross-cutting focus in the Hesse Department of Social Welfare, a state-level ministry in Germany, with special emphasis placed on violence in the family, trafficking of human beings, youth aggression and crime. The Department’s responsibilities cover a broad spectrum, from family relations and policy development for youth, women and seniors, healthy communities, protective services for populations with special needs, integration of foreign population groups, public health and occupational health, support of the health professions, social security, labour promotion schemes and social entrepreneurship.
The Hesse Department of Social Welfare plays a leadership role in violence prevention. In addition to securing financial support of protective services and shelters in Hesse and contributing to legislative reforms, the Department has been instrumental in creating formalized and sustainable multi-institutional cooperation both within and outside the state’s borders. The Department has initiated a number of task forces in which experts from state and community agencies and NGOs have developed cabinet-level action plans, policy documents, practical recommendations as well as specific tools, such as a health response protocol for victims of intimate partner violence.