Recommended, 2024

Editor'S Choice

Germany study shows: every second woman no longer feels safe

Women are scared when they walk alone on the street. This shows a new survey of Bild am Sonntag (BAMS). Who can we blame for that?

Many women are scared when traveling alone
Photo: Istock
content
  1. Number of offenses relatively constant
  2. The fear is in our heads
  3. Cologne as a symbol of fear

"These men want to publicly demonstrate that we have nothing to look for on the street, " said women's rights activist Alice Schwarzer. But who are "these men"? Refugees, Muslims or just men? And who is responsible for the fact that women no longer feel safe in Germany?

The women interviewed by the BAMS are relatively united. Of the 58 percent of all women who feel threatened, 44 percent blame the immigration of Muslim men. But is this fear actually justified?

Number of offenses relatively constant

As early as 2015, around 1.1 million refugees came to Germany. Nevertheless, the number of crimes recorded in Germany in 2015 remained relatively constant. The increase in violations is largely due to increased crime against foreigners . The number of right-wing acts of violence reached a sad record . The number increased by more than 44 percent.

The number of crimes perpetrated by immigrants in 2015 is around 190, 000, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Sex offenses are less than one percent of the total number of crimes committed by immigrants.

In the first half of 2016, the number of crimes committed by refugees declined, according to the BKA. Also in 2016, sexual offenses represented around 1.1 percent of all criminal offenses. Theft and asset and counterfeiting offenses were the most prevalent.

Seventy-seven percent of women in an EU-wide survey who have been victims of sexual violence said they knew the offender before the crime. Often the victims are even married to the offender.

One of the key messages of the BKA report is: "Immigrants are no more criminal than Germans." In fact, there is no reason to feel more insecure with a higher number of immigrants. So where does our fear come from?

The fear is in our heads

"We all do not have to change our leisure behavior, because Germany is still one of the safest countries in the world, " said Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office. But that's not enough for many women as security.

Anxiety researchers say that women have generally become more cautious and therefore offenders do not even come to attack women. Thus, the number of crimes does not even rise.

And this fear has not least been intensified since the events on New Year's Eve in Cologne. If you look at Internet forums or comments on the results of the BAMS survey, you will always read Cologne . The focus has started a survey among users . Also here: fear, uncertainty and again and again Cologne.

Cologne as a symbol of fear

Everyone has heard: Only very slowly, the events on New Year's morning leaked to us. Foreign men have made an appointment. They wanted to make trouble. Making fun of women. They unnecessarily press, grope. That these crimes have happened, is beyond question.

But does that happen all the time? Does a small Cologne really happen every day in our hometowns? Every woman has to answer this question herself. And every woman has to be able to judge for herself how the media influence her and how her own experiences contribute to anxiety. And then we should behave as well. Your own experiences are worth a lot more than what we read on the internet, tell others or we see on TV.

There are also women who do not give in to this public fear. Ute S. for example: "No. I have not changed anything, neither my behavior, nor my clothes [...] I have never crossed the street because of men approaching me, and I will not begin with it [...]. "

Popular Categories

Top