🏠 Women's shelters and protective accommodation
In brief
Women's shelters (Frauenhäuser) take in women and their children regardless of origin, residence status or income and keep the address secret to ensure protection from the person posing the danger. Access is usually via the helpline 116 016 or directly via a local women's shelter advice centre; the national coordination helps with the search for a place when the nearest shelter is full.
How the costs of the stay are covered has historically been regulated differently from Land to Land and sometimes from municipality to municipality (including through daily rates, which are often covered as "costs of accommodation" by the Jobcenter or social welfare office). The Gewalthilfegesetz, which came into force in 2025, is meant in future to create more uniform standards nationwide – but under the statutory transitional rules the full individual legal entitlement to protection and advice applies only from 1 January 2032.
Step by step
- Get in touchCall the helpline 116 016 or contact a local women's shelter advice centre directly.
- Look for a placeThe staff check free capacity, if necessary nationwide via the coordination structures of Frauenhauskoordinierung – when occupancy is high this can take a while.
- Organise your journeyIn acute danger the police can support a safe journey; for security reasons the exact address of the women's shelter is only given shortly beforehand.
- Admission interviewAn admission interview follows at the women's shelter; at the same time the assumption of costs is clarified (often Jobcenter/social welfare office, organised differently depending on the Land).
- Plan next stepsThe women's shelter team usually also helps with applications (Gewaltschutzgesetz, basic income support/housing benefit, questions about children) and with the search for a home of your own.
Deadlines
- The number of women's shelter places nationwide falls far short of the capacity recommended by the Istanbul Convention (one family place per 10,000 inhabitants); specialist associations put the gap at several thousand places (see sources). In individual cases this can lead to waiting times or to being referred to a shelter further away.
- Under the Gewalthilfegesetz the individual legal entitlement to a place applies only from 2032 – currently (as of September 2026) implementation is still in the build-up phase (needs analyses and funding concepts of the Länder, federal contribution to funding from 2027). That does not change the fact that you can and should seek access to a women's shelter today.
- The exact rules on covering costs differ depending on the Land and individual situation (income, residence status) – ask directly at the women's shelter or at an advice centre, instead of letting financial worries stop you from getting in touch.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
The Gewalthilfegesetz: state of implementation
The "Act on Support and Protection for Persons Affected by Violence" (Gewalthilfegesetz) came into force on 28 February 2025. It provides for staged implementation: before 2027 the Länder are to draw up baseline analyses, development plans and funding concepts; from 2027 recognised providers have a claim to adequate public funding, the Länder are obliged to ensure a needs-based network of protection and advice services, and the federal government contributes to funding (in total around €2.6 billion, staggered from 2027 to 2036). From 2028 a federal statistic on occupancy is to be compiled. The full individual legal entitlement to protection and advice comes into force only on 1 January 2032, so that the Länder can build up the necessary capacity beforehand. This page describes the legal position known at the time of research (September 2026); because the Länder are currently still in the early implementation phase, practical handling locally may continue to develop.
The gap in provision
The Istanbul Convention recommends, on the basis of a Council of Europe task force recommendation, a capacity of one family place per 10,000 inhabitants. According to calculations by Frauenhauskoordinierung, despite this recommendation several thousand women's shelter places are missing in Germany; exact figures vary depending on the calculation method between around 8,500 and around 12,000 missing places. This page deliberately does not give a single number suggesting exactness, but refers to the national women's shelter statistics of Frauenhauskoordinierung as the primary source.
Until now: a patchwork of funding
Before the Gewalthilfegesetz, funding of women's shelters was historically a matter for the Länder and municipalities, with very different models (project-based funding, daily-rate funding, municipal own contributions). Among other things this meant that women sometimes could not find a place outside their home municipality or that questions of cost delayed access. The Gewalthilfegesetz aims to standardise this step by step, without interrupting the ongoing work of the existing women's shelters.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.