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Article
SOURCE
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/rape-culture-germany-cologne-new-years-2016-876
Rape Culture in Germany Is Not an Imported Phenomenon
By Stefanie Lohaus and Anne Wizorek
January 8, 2016
This article was originally published on VICE Germany
Ever since New Year's Eve, German media have largely been discussing the violence at Cologne's central train station in terms of a rape culture that was imported into Germany – simply because the perpetrators in this case looked "Arab" or "North African", according to witnesses. The only point being, of course, that the men weren't white.
That's an idea that renders sexualised violence and theft harmless by trivialising and exorcising both notions. The fact that our society and its institutions aren't in any position to protect those affected by the violence and identify its culprits doesn't in any way mean that there's never been sexualised violence in Germany before. In fact, Germany's rape culture is deeply rooted in our collective psyche. [comment: The last time German women were raped en masse was when Hitler was defeated.]
Sexual assaults and even rape happen every year at big events like Oktoberfest. "The way to the toilet alone is like running the gauntlet: within 50 feet, you can be sure to tally three hugs from drunken strangers, two pats on the ass, someone looking up your dirndl and some beer purposely splashed right down your cleavage," wrote Karoline Beisel and Beate Wild in 2011, in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. An average of 10 reported rapes take place each year at Oktoberfest. The estimated number of unreported cases is 200.
A 2004 study on the living conditions, security and health of women in Germany, showed that 13 percent of German women have experienced a form of criminal sexualised violence. The scandal is that only 8 percent of these women filed a complaint with the police. If you include multiple complaints, then the figure decreases to 5 percent. That means that an incredible 95 percent of women in Germany who experience sexual violence don't report it to the police.
According to German law, in order to get a conviction for sexual assault, the victim must prove that they resisted the violence.
Yet the media would still rather talk at length about false accusations, even if they are rare. Depending on the statistics and the country, they account for between 1 and 9 percent of all reported cases – in Germany that number lies between 3 and 5 percent.
The reason behind all that is that in German law, the victim's behaviour plays a big role when it comes to sexual assault. In order to get a conviction, the victim must prove that they resisted the violence. This is a completely absurd requirement, largely based on numerous myths about how sexualised violence is carried out. That's why staring in shock – a common and natural reaction to violence – often leads to the perpetrator being acquitted. Just imagine that the burden of proof for theft lay on whether the person robbed had adequately defended themselves: "Sorry Miss, you didn't hold on to your purse tight enough, it's your own fault."
Amid all this, the perpetrator's skin colour or religion is irrelevant. With what happened in Cologne, we'll have to see whether those sexual assaults end up being as thoroughly investigated as the property theft that occurred simultaneously. To date, 90 women have filed complaints according to Zeit Online, with 75 percent of them concerning sexual offences. Two of them are rape cases.
Nobody's denying that people with immigrant backgrounds or of the Muslim faith are also guilty of committing sex crimes. But to act as if their cultural background has "programmed" them to do so, while making all sorts of excuses and downplaying the crimes of white Germans, will always be racist rabble-rousing.
The clearest thing to come out of the debate around what happened in Cologne as of yet is that Germany has a sexism issue and a racism issue. Both are deep-rooted and were not "imported". It's our responsibility as a society to move towards a culture that celebrates mutual consent and respects boundaries. And that applies to all people, because one sexual assault is one too many – no matter where it took place and who it involved.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/rape-culture-germany-cologne-new-years-2016-876
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COMMENT
I've only just begun looking at the Cologne Rapes articles.
Got sidetracked having a look at and marking up the UK, Sweden & France (NATO sidekicks, although Sweden isn't official) propaganda via a Frankfurt Germany newspaper, citing experts who are talking piles of steaming manure.
Just when I thought I couldn't possibly find anything more preposterous, I came across this article, quite by chance.
I think there's steam coming out of my ears right now, like in the cartoons.
This is so disgusting and false, that I could just burst ... or cry.
The German public -- and the public at large -- don't deserve these lies.
It matters very much who the raping mobs are, when you are being raped by a mob of immigrant marauders on a rampage in Europe.
That aside, the colour of a rapist's (or any other criminal's) skin and their religion (or lack thereof), their affiliations, and any other key features (place of birth, family origins, gender, markings, sexual preference, family constellation etc), matter a great deal as these factors help with crime analysis, profiling and crime fighting etc.
Adequate records should be kept, made public and examined by law enforcement, by experts, by academics and anybody else interested in crime and associated analysis.
Not keeping such records in an adequate state, and not providing such records for inspection, is negligent of law enforcement and negligent of government.
What has taken place has taken place precisely because of origins (which includes factors of race, religion, culture and psychology), that cannot be ignored.
As far as I am aware, there is no crowd of 1,000 marauding Italians or Spaniards raping (or if one prefers a little minimising spin: 'sexually assaulting') German women, as a thank-you for German hospitality.
That's all I have to say on this at the moment.
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EU-NATO IMPERIALISM ❌ 
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