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Statistics on crime are regularly available. But they show only a slice of reality, namely those acts that the police learn about. Germany is a safe country - but not everyone everywhere feels that way.
Many people feel uncomfortable on public transport at night, especially women. According to Statista[i], 97 percent of female respondents report sexual harassment. If women avoid certain places, paths, or situations, this is also a form of violence – they are restricted in their personal freedom because of their gender.
Name-calling, harassment, threats, and control should also be named for what they are: Violence. It can affect women from all social classes and age groups and in any situation: At home, in public, at work, or online. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth lists the following forms of violence: Domestic violence, sexual harassment at work, sexualized violence, digital violence, stalking, bullying, forced marriage, genital mutilation, and human trafficking
Violence against women is an alarming problem
The perpetrators are often known. They are mostly partners and ex-partners. The latest statistics[ii] from the Federal Criminal Police Office are depressing: a total of 143,016 cases of intimate partner violence were reported in 2021 – of which 115,342 (80.3%) were women, and 28,262 (19.7%) were men. One hundred thirteen women and 14 men were killed by intimate partner violence in 2021. Or put another way, every third day a woman dies at the hands of her (ex-)partner. Every hour, an average of 13 women in Germany experience intimate partner violence.
Domestic violence in Germany
Women from all social classes, with different incomes and levels of education, and from any background can be affected by domestic violence. Domestic violence always affects the children of the women who experience violence. Perpetrators use violent behavior to exert power and control. Acts of domestic violence can include threats, humiliation, social control and isolation, hitting and kicking, or forcing sexual acts. One in four women between the ages of 16 and 85 has been abused by her partner or ex-partner at some point in her life. Domestic violence is particularly stressful, both physically and emotionally, because it takes place at home – a place that actually conveys protection and security and comes from a person you trust.
Eighty-one percent of victims of intimate partner violence in Germany are women. This is shown by data[iii] published by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In the case of rape, sexual assault, and sexual assault in partnerships, as many as 98 percent of the victims are female; in the case of stalking, threats, and coercion in partnerships, the figure is 88.7 percent. One hundred thirty-two women were killed by their partners in 2020, and in 227 other cases, the attempt failed. These crimes are often referred to as relationship crimes as if they were a private matter of partners. Taken together, that’s nearly one case per day. Across all offenses, the BKA counted 148,031 victims of intimate partner violence – an increase of 4.9 percent over the previous year. In fact, however, the number is likely to be significantly higher.
Sexual harassment in the workplace
According to a 2019 survey by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency[iv], one in eleven people has already been sexually harassed at work within the past three years. Apart from the psychological damage suffered by victims of sexual harassment, these cases also have a negative impact on the company. Many studies show that women quit after being sexually assaulted and with their good ideas, networks, and potential, leave the company. Gender-based violence starts with everyday sexism and ends with femicide. In Germany, every third woman has been affected by physical and/or sexualized violence at least once in her life, which is more than 12 million women.
Germany is the largest brothel in Europe
The prostitutes in Germany are the victims of traffickers, pimps, and well-meaning politicians. They wanted to improve the fate of women and have made it hell. On paper, everything looks perfect. But the facts[v] in a trade that sees people as commodities and turns over an estimated 15 billion euros a year in Germany alone speak a different language. These facts deny the good intentions:
– Prostitution conditions in the 1990s – which formed the intellectual hinterland for the red-green legislation – looked different. At that time, there were almost, without exception, German prostitutes.
– In 2001, the compulsory health examination for prostitutes was abolished, and the newly created Infection Protection Act placed exclusive emphasis on voluntariness and self-responsibility in prostitutes’ health care.
– According to the Federal Statistical Office, only about 23,000 women were registered with the authorities in 2021 – out of an estimated 250,000 to 400,000 prostitutes in Germany.
– Around 90 percent of prostitutes today come from abroad, where traffickers “acquire” them and then smuggle them into Germany.
– Many of the prostitutes working in Germany have their passports taken away after crossing the border and are henceforth at the mercy of their pimps. They have no regular registration, no own apartment, and no health insurance. They are mostly kept like slaves.
Source:
[i] https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1254543/umfrage/erlebte-formen-sexueller-belaestigung-nach-geschlecht/
[ii] https://www.gruene-bundestag.de/themen/frauen/internationaler-tag-gegen-gewalt-an-frauen
[iii] https://de.statista.com/infografik/21273/anzahl-der-opfer-haeuslicher-gewalt-nach-geschlecht-in-deutschland/
[iv] https://www.eqs.com/de/compliance-wissen/blog/sexuelle-belaestigung-am-arbeitsplatz/
[v] https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/gastbeitrag-von-gabor-steingart-deutschland-ist-das-groesste-bordell-europas-mit-zuhaeltern-als-lobbyisten_id_179677535.html
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