I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOVE

YouTube premiere "From Kreisky's living room"

Robert Misik in conversation with Helene Klaar
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOVE

„I'm a lawyer by profession, being a feminist is my hobby, but of course it overlaps to a certain extent."

Helene Klaar, the daughter of a lawyer who had returned to Vienna from emigration in 1947, completed her law studies in 1972 with a doctorate and took over her retired father's law firm in 1976.

She came to divorce matters more by chance: „Who wanted to get legal advice from a young woman in the 1970s?“ So she took the clients she could get: poor women. For over 40 years, she has represented women - in particular, but not exclusively - in divorce proceedings. In 1982, Minister for Women Johanna Dohnal commissioned her to write a divorce guide for women on the then new family law, which was very popular from the moment it was published and has since appeared in several updated editions.

She is known for advising her clients not to divorce if their situation is not unbearable. „For men, divorce is a financial problem. For women, it's an existential problem,“ she is convinced. „Better a marriage without love than a divorce without money,“ is one of her mottos.
In 2004, Helene Klaar received the Vienna Women's Award for her „special services to women in the event of divorce“ and in 2019 the Women's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, she was awarded the Silver Decoration of Honour for Services to the State of Vienna for her commitment to the Vienna Women's Shelters Association, where she was active on the board for many years.

Moderation Robert Misik, Author and journalist