Feelings of fear increase: Two rapes in Berlin parks shake the capital

Feelings of fear increase: Two rapes in Berlin parks shake the capital

In German cities, many women feel increasingly threatened and uncomfortable, especially in parks and on station forensions. The current situation in the capital Berlin has reinforced this feeling after two group rapes in parks were reported.

A confidante of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, the former Minister of Culture Monika Grütters, has now spoken publicly about her own fears and uncertainties. It feels primarily threatened in lonely and dark places, such as in sub-underpasses or at nightly lonely subway stations. For this reason, Grütters calls for increased video surveillance as well as more police or guard protection staff in such places.

Grütters emphasizes that it is generally not an anxious type and that difficult situations avoid. Nevertheless, it recognizes the security deficit and explains that the security structure has not yet been sufficiently expanded in such problem areas. There must be more security personnel, cameras and lighting to cope with the difficulties in the affected milieus.

from 2013 to 2021, Grütters was commissioned by the Federal Government for Culture and Media in two Merkel cabinets. During this time, the 2015 refugee crisis also fell, in which Grütters supported the policy of open limits of Merkel. At the time, she emphasized that Berlin had always been a place of immigration.

The Berlin police statistics show an alarming number of severe deeds such as rape, sexual coercion and sexual assault alone in Görlitzer Park. Eight such cases were registered there from January to the end of June, and there were 13 more sexual offenses. A group rape was informed by the police, a 22-year-old Somalier was arrested.

It remains to be seen which measures will take politics to ensure the safety of women in German cities and to reduce the sense of uncertainty. In view of the current events, however, increased intervention in the form of more video surveillance and police presence is urgently required. This is the only way to prevent such crimes and women protect against other traumatic experiences.