2015–16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany
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During the 2016 New Year's Eve celebrations, hundreds of sexual assaults (including groping), at least five rapes, and numerous thefts were reported in Germany, mainly in Cologne city centre. Similar incidents were reported in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Bielefeld. The German Federal Criminal Police Office said on 9 January that the incidents were a phenomenon known in the Arab World as taharrush gamea in Arabic. Translated as "group sexual harassment in crowds," it is comparable to criminal acts committed in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
All of the incidents involved women being surrounded and assaulted by groups of men on the street. There are more than 1,900 victims – 1,200 of whom were sexually assaulted – and police stated that at least 2,000 men were involved, acting in groups. Police reported that the perpetrators were men of "Arab or North African appearance" and said that Germany had never experienced such mass sexual assaults before. The attacks sparked an international outcry, a debate about women's rights, the sustainability of Germany's asylum policy, and social differences between European societies and those of North Africa and the Middle East. Taking place during the European migrant crisis (see timeline), the attacks also led to a hardening of attitudes against mass immigration.
Chief Prosecutor Ulrich Bremer initially reported that "the overwhelming majority" of suspects were asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who had recently arrived in Germany and refuted recent media reports that claimed otherwise. By 9 April, police in Cologne had identified 153 suspects, 24 of whom were in investigative custody. 149 of the 153 suspects of the Cologne crimes were non-Germans, many of them asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. 103 of the 153 suspects were from Morocco or Algeria. 68 persons were asylum seekers; 18 were residing in Germany illegally, and the legal status of 47 persons was unclear. Four persons were underage, unaccompanied refugees. By July, four perpetrators had been convicted and it was reported that of the 120 outstanding suspects half were of foreign nationality and had recently arrived in Germany, while it was also reported that most of the perpetrators were from Northern Africa.
It was reported that the assaults in Cologne were apparently organized. Police said that some perpetrators used social media to meet for New Year's Eve celebrations, but Ralf Jäger, Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia, said there was "so far no evidence that the perpetrators had arranged the assaults before New Year's Eve". Jürgen Mathies, the new Cologne police chief, said many of the perpetrators were from countries where they might be familiar with "this behaviour, where women are hemmed in and then abused by a large number of men at once".
The Cologne assaults were not reported by the national media for days, and The Local says many news outlets started reporting it only after a wave of anger on social media made covering the story unavoidable. Although Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker condemned the assaults, she was strongly criticized for some of her comments and was accused of blaming the victims. Cologne's police chief, Wolfgang Albers, was transferred to provisional retirement for his handling of the situation. The police response and delayed media reaction met strong criticism from German citizens, with some placing blame on the European migrant crisis. The governments of Slovakia and the Czech Republic have called for an emergency EU meeting following these events and various other EU governments made statements concerning the attacks.
On 7 June, a Federal Criminal Police Office report confirmed that most of the perpetrators were of North African origin and had arrived in Germany during the European migrant crisis. Investigative results about the perpetrators were congruent with witnesses statements. Perpetrators benefited from weak criminal prosecution and low police presence. Group dynamics and personal frustration among the offenders also fuelled the crimes. The report also linked the assaults to the phenomenon of taharrush jamai in Arab countries.
See also
- Crime in Germany
- Sex gangs
- Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal
- Mass sexual assault
- Criminal case of Lisa F.
- Murder of Niklas P.
- 2015 New Year's attack plots
