1. Grossman S.E. (Sabrina)

Here is a concrete Action Plan for the Prevention pillar, formulated as a building block for a municipal council memorandum. This plan bridges the gap between the abstract texts of the Istanbul Convention and everyday practice in the neighbourhood.

Prevention of Violence (in accordance with the Istanbul Convention)

Objective: To prevent gender-based violence and domestic violence by tackling its root causes: harmful norms, lack of knowledge and failure to recognise the signs.

Action point 1: The “Peaceful Neighbourhood” & Education

• Measure: Extend the Peaceful School programme to the entire neighbourhood. Focus specifically on gender equality and physical integrity.
• Implementation: Workshops at schools on “Healthy Relationships” and “Online Boundaries” (sexting/shaming).
• Legal basis: Istanbul Convention Art. 14 (Education) & UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Art. 29

Action point 2: Training the ‘Front Line’

• Measure: Compulsory training for all municipal professionals (neighbourhood teams, debt counsellors, Wmo consultants) in recognising coercive control (intimate terrorism).
• Focus: Recognising not only physical violence, but also psychological and economic oppression (e.g. perpetrators who control the victim’s bank card).
• Legal basis: Istanbul Convention Art. 15 (Training of professionals).

Action point 3: Local awareness campaign “Not Your Fault”

• Measure: An ongoing urban campaign that breaks through the shame felt by victims and places the responsibility on the perpetrator.
• Approach: Use local role models (sports coaches, neighbourhood fathers, entrepreneurs) to talk about respect and breaking down stereotypical male-female relationships.
• Legal basis: Istanbul Convention Art. 13 (Awareness-raising).

Action point 4: Safe Public Space (Gender Audit)

• Measure: Conducting “safety walks” with residents to identify unsafe areas (poorly lit tunnels, parks).
• Action: Immediate adjustment of lighting and layout of public spaces to reduce street harassment.
• Legal basis: Istanbul Convention Art. 17 (Participation of the private sector and the media/public space).

Prevention is not an expense, but an investment in the safety and security of our residents. In line with the Istanbul Convention (Art. 12), this municipality is committed to promoting changes in social and cultural behaviour patterns. We no longer accept that violence remains “behind closed doors”; we are bringing the solution to the forefront by focusing on education and early detection.

Prevention is not only about safety, but also about the right to an independent and dignified life.

Action Plan: Comprehensive Prevention & Inclusive Safety

Vision: Preventing violence starts with strengthening individual autonomy and eliminating structural inequality in the neighbourhood.

1. Education: Resilience and Equality from the Ground Up

• Action: Structural integration of the principles of the Peaceful School into local education and youth work, with specific modules on gender equality and the physical integrity of persons with disabilities.
• Legal safeguards: * Istanbul Convention Art. 14: Education on equality.
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 8: Combating stereotypes and prejudices.
• Constitution Art. 23: The government’s responsibility for education.

2. Training: Recognition of coercive control and dependency

• Action: Professionals (neighbourhood teams, care providers) are trained to recognise signs of violence in specifically vulnerable groups. Extra attention is paid to the relationship of dependency in persons with disabilities (e.g. informal carers as perpetrators).
• Legal safeguards: Istanbul Convention Art. 15: Specialist training for professionals.
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 16: Protection against exploitation, violence and abuse.
• Constitution Art. 11: Right to bodily integrity.

3. Accessible Assistance: The “Barrier-Free” Neighbourhood

• Action: Each district will have a physical information centre (as mentioned in the Every Person Counts programme) that is fully accessible. Information about violence and assistance must be available in simple language (lay language), Braille and via sign language interpreters.
• Legal guarantee: Istanbul Convention Art. 13: Awareness-raising through accessible information.
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 9: Accessibility as a basic condition for participation.
• Constitution Art. 1: Equal treatment and non-discrimination.

4. Safe housing: Housing rights as prevention

• Action: Introduction of a ‘Stay Safe’ protocol whereby, in the event of imminent violence, it is not the victim but the perpetrator who is immediately removed from the home (restraining order). This prevents victims from losing their social environment and home.
• Legal safeguards: Istanbul Convention Art. 52 & 53: Emergency restraining orders and protection orders.
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Art. 19: Right to live independently and be part of the community.
• Constitution Art. 10: Right to respect for private life. 

In this municipality, every person counts. Preventing violence is not a favour, but a fundamental duty that stems from our Constitution and international conventions such as Istanbul and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We opt for a proactive approach in which we lower the barriers to help and guarantee safety in the home environment. Our policy is based on the principle: Nothing about us without us. We protect the autonomy of the victim and tackle the root causes of violence.

By definition, every municipality could start by adopting a ‘speak out’ motion in the council:

Motion: Safety is a Fundamental Right – Implementation of the Istanbul Convention

The municipal council

Noting that:

• The Istanbul Convention obliges the municipality to take an integrated approach to violence against women and domestic violence;
• The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that everyone has the right to live independently and be protected from exploitation and violence;
• Victims of domestic violence are currently often forced to leave their homes and social environment, while the perpetrator remains in the home.

Considering that:

• Articles 10 and 11 of the Constitution protect personal privacy and the inviolability of the body;
• Safety and security of livelihood are inextricably linked;
• Effective prevention can only succeed if help is accessible, inclusive and available in understandable “lay language”.

Declares that:

• The autonomy of the victim is central: In cases of domestic violence, the focus should be on removing the perpetrator from the home (restraining order), rather than uprooting the victim and any children.
• Inclusion is the norm: Prevention programmes and information centres must be fully accessible to persons with disabilities, in accordance with the principle “Nothing about us without us”.
• Non-violence is taught: The principles of the Peaceful School and non-violent communication (based on the King Centre model) must become the standard in municipal youth and education policy.

And requests the Municipal Executive to:

• Present a concrete action plan ‘Istanbul in the Neighbourhood’ within six months, incorporating the above principles into local care and safety chains;
• Actively involve and value experts by experience as equal professionals.

And proceeds to the order of the day.

The Dark Side of Healthcare: Healthcare Cowboys and Their Practices

The term “healthcare cowboy” is commonly used to refer to healthcare providers who put profit before the well-being of their clients. They take advantage of the complexity of the system, the financing structures (such as personal care budgets and healthcare contracts) and the vulnerability of their clients.

What Healthcare Cowboys Do: The Harsh Reality

The practices of these unscrupulous healthcare providers are serious and leave deep scars. They include:

• Fraud and Exploitation: Systematically claiming hours, care or resources that have not been provided, setting up sham arrangements, and extorting (often vulnerable) clients for personal gain.
• Neglect and Abuse: Providing substandard or even harmful care, including serious neglect (physical, emotional, hygienic) and, in the most extreme cases, physical or psychological abuse of clients, including children and persons with disabilities.
• Intimidation and Isolation: Intimidating and pressuring clients, their loved ones, or their legal representatives to prevent complaints or to maintain the sham arrangements. This often leads to social isolation of the client, causing the abuses to remain invisible for longer.
• Exploiting Vulnerability: Specifically targeting clients who, due to their condition, age or position, find it difficult to express complaints or represent their interests.

The Term “Care Cowboy” Falls Short: A Euphemism for Serious Crime

It is crucial to state that the term “care cowboy” does not cover the seriousness of the facts.

The term conjures up images of boorish, but perhaps tough or enterprising types who push the boundaries. It is a euphemism that conceals the true nature of the crimes. The actions described above – systematic fraud, neglect, abuse and exploitation – are serious crimes that belong in the realm of organised crime or violence, not the innocuous-sounding “cowboy mentality”.

The use of the term “healthcare cowboy” unintentionally emphasises “wild” entrepreneurship, when in fact it refers to the criminal exploitation of the most vulnerable members of society. These practices undermine confidence in the entire healthcare sector.

The healthcare system as the “Wild West”: structural insecurity

The term “care cowboy” suggests that the problem lies with a few bad apples. However, the structural problems in the healthcare system and policy create an environment that is more like the “Wild West”, in which vulnerable people remain unprotected. The causes for this are:

1. Lack of Adequate Punishment and Enforcement

For perpetrators of serious fraud and abuse in healthcare, the penalties are often disproportionate to the seriousness of the crimes and the impact on the victims.

• Light Sanctions: Financial fraud is often dealt with by recovering funds or imposing an administrative fine, while the perpetrators simply start a new healthcare provider elsewhere.
• Legal Complexity: Proving intent in cases of abuse or serious neglect within a healthcare setting is legally complex, which means that perpetrators often get away with it or receive only light penalties.

2. Impossible Access to Justice for Vulnerable Clients

Access to justice and complaint procedures is often made impossible for clients, especially those with disabilities.

• Dependency: Clients are completely dependent on the care provider, making the threshold for filing a complaint extremely high for fear of reprisals or loss of care.
• Legal Barriers: Conducting proceedings requires expertise, stamina and financial resources that vulnerable individuals or their loved ones often do not possess.

3. Failure to monitor and implement measures

Despite the existence of the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ), the implementation of supervision and measures is often insufficient or too slow.

• Toothless Inspection: Although the IGJ can intervene, there are persistent cases in which care providers continue their practices at a different location or under a different name, despite negative inspection reports and the cessation of funding.
• Fragmentation of Supervision: The division of supervision between municipalities (Wmo/Youth), health insurers (Zvw) and the IGJ leads to gaps in control, allowing rogue providers to slip through the net.

Conclusion: The vulnerable position of children and persons with disabilities in the healthcare system is not an incident, but a systemic shortcoming. The system, which relies too much on (poorly controlled) market forces and too little on robust protection, enforcement and adequate penalties, fails in its primary task: providing safe and humane care.

It is time to replace the term “care cowboy” with the hard facts: care criminals and exploitation, and to transform the “Wild West” of the healthcare system into a safe and controlled environment.

The word “Misstand” (injustice)

The word “misstand” is a compound word that literally refers to a “wrong state of affairs”. It describes a situation that is not right and deviates from the norm. In practice, the term is often used to refer to structural problems, such as errors, irregularities or undesirable situations within an organisation or system. It covers a wide range of problems, from administrative errors to serious cases of negligence.

The gap between meaning and perception

The perception of the word “misstand” often differs from its literal meaning. Although the literal meaning suggests something like “undesirable situation”, the word often evokes a sense of seriousness, negligence or even deliberate misconduct. This is because the word is often used in the context of scandals, such as in healthcare, the financial sector or government. This association has given the word a heavier connotation than its literal meaning suggests.

• Literal meaning: A deviation from a desired state.
• General perception: A serious, often structural error or irregularity, involving negligence or unethical behaviour.

The perception is therefore more heavily loaded than the literal meaning, which can lead to ambiguity.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Term

The term “misstand” probably originated from the need to describe a complex, often structural, situation in a single word. It is an easy term to use in the media and political debates because it communicates directly and clearly that there is a problem.

However, this convenience has a downside: it can lead to a trivialisation of the seriousness of the situation. If a deliberate, serious act, such as child abuse, is referred to as an “abuse”, it can obscure the seriousness of the act. The word can also be used as a euphemism to avoid direct perpetration, by focusing on a failing system rather than individual responsibility.

Therefore, the usefulness of the literal meaning in solving problems can be questioned. If we want to tackle a problem, we must call it by its name. An intentional act of a serious nature, such as failing to provide necessary care, is not just an “abuse”; it is neglect or a crime.

Social Impact and Solutions

The social impact of using the word “misconduct” is that society tends to view the seriousness of a problem as less severe because the word itself is less direct than “abuse”, “fraud” or “neglect”. This may be due to the word itself, but also to society’s tendency to normalise scandals. We might ask ourselves whether we should develop new, more accurate terminology that rolls off the tongue just as easily but better reflects the seriousness of the situation.

Perhaps we should reserve the term “malpractice” for situations that are truly systemic and unintentional, and use a different, more direct term for deliberate, serious acts. This would make the perpetrators more accountable and clarify the seriousness of the situation for society.

Real Control over Your Own Care (PGB)

Control means that you are in charge of your own life. As leader of the AAA, I promise that we will break down barriers and invest in the power of the budget holder. Your care, your choice, our priority.

‘Care is tailor-made, not one-size-fits-all. The resident decides.’ On 18 March 2026, we will decide how our municipality deals with support and care. For the AAA, the Personal Budget (PGB) is not a “closing item”, but an essential instrument for freedom. I do not bow to bureaucracy, but stand up for the human dimension.

My priorities for a strong PGB policy:

• PGB as an Equal Choice: In our municipality, a PGB should never be a second-rate option. I want residents to be proactively and honestly informed about the choice between Care in Kind and a PGB, without the municipality steering them towards the cheapest solution.
• Stop Arbitrariness: The large differences between municipalities must disappear. I advocate clear, transparent rules and an application process without unnecessary barriers. A rejection should never be without thorough, substantive justification.
• Adequate and fair rates: Good care costs money. I am committed to PGB rates that actually rise in line with inflation (indexation). We will work with the nationally developed guidelines to ensure that you, as a budget holder, can pay your care providers a fair and competitive salary.
• Customisation is the norm: General provisions are fine, but they should never be used as a shield to refuse necessary customisation. Those who need specific help should also be able to purchase it specifically.