Summary
A woman is killed by a partner or ex-partner nearly every two days in Germany, with 155 such murders in 2023, according to the first-ever Federal Criminal Police Office report on gender-specific crimes.
Activists and officials are calling for stronger protections, but Germany’s anti-domestic violence law remains stalled in political negotiations.
Women’s shelters lack 14,000 spaces, forcing some victims to travel hundreds of kilometers for safety.
Funding gaps, insufficient legal protections, and high costs deter many from seeking help, perpetuating cycles of violence.
Insults are a crime over here as-is, and generally speaking psychological violence can be prosecuted as assault as long as the impact reaches the level of bodily injury. E.g. driving someone into depression is assault.
But you’re right the laws are insufficient in this regard: While e.g. cutting off hair is considered a bodily injury, a thing which is neither crippling nor permanent nor painful, the standard applied to psychological violence requires lasting, grave, impact, and thus victims have a very hard time getting justice.
And, of course, all of this isn’t helped by psychological violence often simply not being considered violence by the median citizen. We need a culture shift in that regard.