These are sad data, but not surprising. And we are not at all surprised by them.
While the number of registered rapes in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2022 increased by 25 percent compared to the previous year, the number of gang rapes jumped by 43 percent.
Data published by the interior ministry of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia at the request of the national-conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party revealed that 2,949 rapes were reported last year, which corresponds to eight cases a day and represents an increase of more than 25 percent compared to the previous year.
The number of gang rapes also rose dramatically in North Rhine-Westphalia last year: from 172 to 246 in 2021, which represents a 43 percent increase compared to the previous year, reports the RTL Deutschland news portal.
Unsurprisingly, urban women were most at risk of being victims of serious sexual violence. Almost every third (30%) rape was reported in the state's five largest cities, the Cologne police registered 309 (almost one a day), the Düsseldorf police 175, Dortmund 135, Recklinghausen 133, and Wuppertal 117.
Michael Maatz, deputy state president of the police union Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP), has called on the government to launch an investigation into the causes, concerned about the spike in sexual harassment.
AfD representative Markus Wagner insists that the spreading problem should not be solved with just a "shrug".
"The shocking figures were only recently made public by the Ministry of the Interior, responding to our request. Without the AfD's parliamentary faction, all of this would probably never have come to light. However, information about the origin of the perpetrators is still not made public, but we will not tolerate this and will continue to investigate. What we have been demanding for years is now more urgent than ever: effective measures to protect women and the clear naming of offender profiles, without political correctness!"Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of NRW, spoke to RTL on the subject:
"The dramatic events are very worrying. But it is not about streets and squares. This mostly takes place at home.”
According to police crime statistics, about 60 percent of assaults take place "in the private sphere" and most of the perpetrators are partners, ex-partners or acquaintances.
However, the problem does not only affect North Rhine-Westphalia: the number of registered cases of rape and sexual coercion - including fatalities - rose sharply across the country last year; from 9,903 to 11,896 in 2021 – an increase of more than 20 percent.
But Germany is not alone: cases of sexual violence have also increased dramatically in France. According to data from the French Ministry of the Interior, between 2020 and 2021, the number of victims reporting rape or attempted rape increased by a staggering 32 percent, while the number of sexual harassment cases increased by 33 percent during the same period.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that between 2021 and 2022, reports of sexual violence - including rape, attempted rape, and other sexual assaults - jumped by another 11 percent, according to data from the French Ministry of the Interior.
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