According to a newspaper report, the number of victims of domestic violence in Germany increased significantly in 2022. Nationwide, almost 180,000 victims were registered with the police, 9.3 percent more than in the previous year world on Sunday citing his own research at the interior ministries and state criminal investigation offices of the 16 federal states. Two thirds of the victims are women. However, the number of unreported cases is high because many did not dare to report it. Partners, ex-partners and family members are recorded as perpetrators.
In a comparison of the federal states, the Saarland recorded the strongest increase with 19.7 percent (3,178 victims). According to the newspaper, Thuringia (plus 18.1 percent, 3,812 victims) and Baden-Württemberg (plus 13.1 percent, 14,969 victims) followed. A total of 15 federal states reported significantly more victims. Their number only dropped in the state of Bremen (down 13.6 percent, 2,615 victims). North Rhine-Westphalia reported 37,141 victims (up 8.5 percent).
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said according to the world on Sunday: “The fuse has become shorter for many people and the general tone rougher. The social climate has changed.” This does not stop at the front doors either. “More violence has set in at home.”
Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) told the newspaper that the shame and guilt of those affected often meant that the crimes remained in the dark and were rarely reported to the police. “This dark field is much larger than the bright field,” says Paus. In order to get a better insight here, your ministry is currently having a so-called dark field study carried out together with the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Criminal Police Office. Paus is also planning a state “coordination office” that will combat domestic violence across departments.
Faeser calls for more police checks
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) calls for more police checks if the perpetrators have been expelled from the apartment after attacks. “This must be consistently controlled so that perpetrators do not return quickly,” said Faeser world on Sunday.
The President of the German Caritas Association, Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa, told the newspaper that financial and health concerns, lack of space and uncertainty about the future during the corona pandemic “acted as a kind of fire accelerator for violence in partnership and family”.
Maria Loheide, head of social policy at Diakonie, explained that one reason for the increase could be that awareness of domestic violence has increased overall and, after the uncertain years of the pandemic, women are now more likely to report cases of violence.