Femicides in Germany: What the data reveals

Last year, the trial of Gisèle Pelicot shocked the whole world. 51 men were accused in France of raping Pelicot, who had been knocked unconscious with pills - and these were only those who could be identified in the videos of the crimes. Many more were on the chat website that Dominique Pelicot used to invite men to abuse his wife.

A Ctrl-F documentary was able to reveal that there are Telegram groups with hundreds to tens of thousands of members in which users exchange information about raping drugged women. A look at the available statistics reveals that violence against women is also a massive problem in Germany.

Violence against women in Germany is increasing, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office's situation report. This includes the number of female victims of sexual crimes, domestic violence and digital violence. And it shows that all figures have increased in recent years. The increase is particularly massive in digital violence, i.e. crimes such as stalking or sexual abuse that are committed using the Internet.

Social scientist Dr. Julia Habermann is researching gender-specific violence at the Ruhr University in Bochum. The increase in the number of cases could be due to the dark figure becoming clearer: that is, more crimes are being recorded by the police, she says. But it could also be an actual increase. The phenomenon that violence against women can increase with increasing equality is referred to as the "feminist paradox" .

"We live in a patriarchal system that normalizes violence against women," says lawyer Christina Clemm, who represents people affected by gender-based violence. We are currently experiencing a societal backlash: outdated ideas of masculinity and dominance are gaining strength on social media. Right-wing movements are working to roll back feminist achievements.

The most extreme form of violence against women is so-called femicide. The term is not used consistently in Germany. It actually means that women are killed because they are women. However, this is not always easy to reconstruct. All women killed are therefore recorded, with the exception of those who die in connection with robberies. In these cases, it is assumed that gender is not the motive for the crime.

Social scientist Habermann points out two points when using the term: firstly, not every homicide in which a woman dies is a femicide. Secondly, various definitions also include women dying as a result of misogynistic practices - such as forced abortions or sterilizations. In its current use, the term is therefore both too broad and too narrow.

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Attorney Clemm says she does not believe in making femicide a separate criminal offense. When dealing with violence against women, the main problem is not the substantive criminal law, but the implementation: the investigations against perpetrators of violence often take many years - and women are unprotected during this time.

In 2023, the number of attempted and completed killings of women in Germany has risen slightly again - if one looks at the available data up to 2009, it becomes clear that not much has changed overall.

There were peaks in 2018 with 1,082 cases and in 2020 with 1,050 cases. 2020 also saw an increase in domestic violence. This can be explained by the effects of the corona pandemic: Because of the lockdowns, people spent most of their time at home. The result: more conflicts, fewer ways out for women in violent relationships.

What is behind these numbers? They can be broken down using other statistics. For example, you can find out how femicides are distributed locally in Germany. Overall, there are an average of 1.11 femicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Saarland is a particularly extreme outlier: here the figure is 2.51.

More can also be found out about those affected by the violence. In the case of sexual crimes, it is clear that a large proportion of the victims are minors. In the case of femicides, however, it is the other way round: almost a quarter of those killed are 60 years old or older, and around a fifth are 30 to 40 years old.

According to data from the BKA, the majority of suspects in femicides are male (84.6 percent) and of German origin (68.2 percent). In the area of ​​sexual crimes, a clearer picture emerges: 98.9 percent of suspected perpetrators of rape, sexual coercion and sexual assault are male, 98.7 percent of sexual harassment and 95.5 percent of sexual abuse of children, young people and those under protection aged 14 and over.

And: As a rule, perpetrators and victims know each other. A large proportion of femicides are the result of violence in families or relationships. 155 women were killed by former partners in 2023 - that's almost one every other day.

According to the same statistics, the number of female victims of domestic violence is 70.5 percent - and in the case of domestic violence, the figure is even 79.2 percent. There are only two genders in the police crime statistics. It is therefore not possible to determine how much violence trans people experience. However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior recorded 854 crimes due to "gender-related diversity" for 2023 - more than twice as many as in 2022.

More information about the background of violence against women can be found in the data collected by women's shelters. These show that the majority of cases of violence against women are committed by husbands or partners. In comparison, the number of cases of domestic violence in same-sex relationships is very low.

The nationwide women's shelter statistics also make it clear that the BKA data only represents a fraction of the total. This is because it shows that in many cases of domestic violence no legal action is taken - and therefore these cases do not appear in the police statistics.

This is probably also because many women fear not being taken seriously. "In order for the police and the judiciary to be truly perceived as trustworthy contact points by those affected, they must be professionally and trauma-sensitively trained," says Juliane Fiegler from the Women's Shelter Coordination Association.

According to social scientist Habermann, there are many factors that make it difficult for women to leave violent relationships: financial dependence, the difficulty of finding affordable housing, the risk of poverty for single parents - among others. In addition, there is often control before physical violence: many women are isolated from friends and family, and their self-confidence is undermined by humiliation.

And: "The violence does not necessarily stop with a separation." On the contrary: it often intensifies. For example, through stalking and death threats, which are sometimes put into action.

Women's shelters are a contact point for women who want to escape violence in the family or relationships. The Istanbul Convention has been in force in Germany since 2018. This means that the Federal Republic is committed to taking action against gender-based violence. According to the Istanbul Convention, there must be 21,000 places in women's shelters in Germany to ensure adequate care. The number depends on the population. According to the Women's Shelter Coordination, there are currently 7,700 places.

There are 678 women's shelters in Germany. If you look at the number in relation to the population, it becomes clear that the supply situation is particularly tense in Berlin and Hamburg.

Juliane Fiegler also confirms that places in women's shelters are particularly rare in federal states with large areas and/or large populations - such as North Rhine-Westphalia or Bavaria. In Berlin and Hamburg, there are comparatively more women's shelters, but they also attract more visitors.

Many women's shelters are understaffed and the staff is overworked. Nevertheless, "women's shelters are places of hope," says Fiegler.

How can we prevent women from having to rely on places in women's shelters in the first place? Social scientist Julia Habermann says: There needs to be more awareness about gender roles and images of masculinity and femininity. This is not the task of politics alone, but can only be achieved by society as a whole.

It is important to be sensitive to the warning signs of violent relationships in your own environment - for example, to listen to your gut feeling when you experience controlling or degrading behavior and to carefully address this either with the person affected or the person committing it. Lawyer Christina Clemm also believes that much more attention needs to be paid to prevention: "We have to stop men from becoming violent."