Cases of domestic violence against women rose in Germany in 2023, according to a new analysis by the country’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) released on Tuesday.
A total of 180,715 women reported being victims of domestic violence during 2023, an increase of 5.6% over the year before, according to the agency.
“The facts and figures show that hate and violence against women are a growing social problem,” Michael Kretschmer, vice president of the BKA, said at a presentation of the report on Tuesday in Berlin.
Kretschmer said that misogyny online has been “the driver” of the increase in violence against women.
Overall, women and girls accounted for 70.5% of all victims of reported incidents of domestic violence, according to BKA.
Investigators also believe that a large number of cases go unreported to authorities, particularly incidents of digital harassment and intimate partner violence.
The BKA has also recorded an increase in sexual offenses. In 2023, 52,330 women and girls were victims of sexual offences – 6.2% more than in 2022.
According to the figures, half of the victims were under the age of 18.
Kretschmer emphasized that investigators had noticed an increase in all crimes specifically targeting women in 2023. This also applies to the number of attempted and completed homicides of women, a crime often referred to as femicide.
In 2023, 938 girls and women were victims of attempted or completed femicides, 1% more than in 2022. A total of 360 women and girls died as a result.
Of the killings that took place in the context of intimate relationships, 80.6% of all victims were female, according to the report.
Kretschmer went on to explain that the risk of becoming a victim of femicide increases with age. The report found that woman aged 60 to 80 were most affected.
Another striking finding: the number of crimes based exclusively on misogynistic ideas rose by more than 56% in 2023 compared to 2022.
The report found that 322 crimes against women were recorded in which the motive for the crime was based exclusively on prejudice against women or the female sex.
According to the report, German authorities classify those incidents as political crimes – including insults (150), incitement to hatred (46) and coercion or threats (24). In 2022, there were 206 total crimes of this type.
