Detectives from Hanover Investigate Rape and Sexual Harassment

With the amendment to the sexual offence law unanimously passed in the Bundestag on 7 July 2016—establishing that sexual acts are legally classified as rape if they occur despite the communicated refusal—a long-fought battle for women’s sexual self-determination has achieved a victory. For years, victim protection and women’s organisations have called for stricter rape laws, which now also explicitly cover groping, sexual harassment, and violations of sexual self-determination. Previously, an act was only considered rape and could only be prosecuted as such if threats or violence were involved, or if the victim actively resisted. Under the new law, a simple “no” from the victim is sufficient. If this “no” is ignored and the act continues against the person’s will, it is legally classified as rape, and the perpetrator can be convicted. Our private detectives in Hanover, who occasionally investigate cases of sexual assault, welcome this long-overdue tightening of sexual offence legislation.

 

Critics, however, have accused the grand coalition of making prosecutions more difficult due to evidentiary challenges, claiming the reform goes too far. Both SPD politician Eva Högl and CDU legal expert Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker refute this, stating: “Anyone who can express a will is protected in the future by this principle.” Under the previous limitation of rape cases to threats and the use of force by the perpetrator, combined with the requirement for active resistance from the victim, only 8 percent of those accused of rape were convicted. The remaining majority—excluding the innocently accused—could continue as before, potentially harming new victims. For the investigators at Kurtz Investigations Hanover (+49 511 2028 0016), the old law posed significant hurdles to successfully concluding rape cases—hurdles that are hopefully removed with the reform.

Germany and the Fight for Sexual Self-Determination

Germany, a country where marital rape was not legally punishable until May 1997 and which was thus criminally late in recognising women’s sexual self-determination (in 1972 other parties blocked an SPD-led amendment to the sexual offence law), now moves towards a fairer and safer nation through the reform of rape statutes. However, the expansion of the law is also expected to lead to a potentially unpredictable increase in reports per city and federal state. Given that under the previously lax law only 8 percent of cases led to convictions, police and justice authorities may struggle to investigate all cases promptly and thoroughly. This is where our Hanover detective agency comes into play, handling each personally submitted case with dedicated attention and thorough time investment.

 

Unlike the police, our detectives are authorised to investigate as soon as sufficient suspicion exists; a formal criminal complaint is not required. Desperate victims of sexual assault sometimes approach our private detectives in Hanover to have the suspect observed, potentially uncovering evidence. The professional documentation by our investigators is legally admissible and can be submitted in court. Detectives working on criminal cases thus support police work in a meaningful way, since authorities—dealing with hundreds of reports weekly in large cities—rarely have the capacity to gather all evidence themselves. If a victim feels that official investigations are progressing too slowly, our detectives in Lower Saxony and beyond are available for confidential consultations and strive to assist their clients in resolving cases as quickly as possible: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-hannover.de.

Breaking the Silence – Don’t Rely Solely on Family and Friends

The UN’s 2015 World’s Women Report reveals shocking figures regarding physical and sexual violence against women: One in three women experiences physical or sexual violence at least once in her lifetime; two-thirds of family- or intimate partner-related homicide victims are women. One of the greatest challenges in combating violence and rape is, besides the often deeply rooted cultural belief that women are subordinate and of lesser value, the silence of victims: fewer than 40 percent seek any form of help, and of these, only one in ten contacts the police. Our Hanover detective team repeatedly encounters clients who approach us only under extreme distress or fear of further attacks, whether due to concern about retaliation in case of a report or investigation, or from shame and the common feeling of personal culpability for having supposedly provoked the assault.

 

In many cases, perpetrators are close to the victim—ex-partners, unhappy lovers, family members, friends, colleagues—which further reduces the willingness to report. Fear of social or professional stigma if the accused is a respected or well-positioned colleague or ex-partner often prevents women from seeking help from friends, family, authorities, or victim support organisations. Our detectives in Hanover continually urge victims of sexualised violence to seek help—not only to resolve their own cases and achieve justice, but also to protect future potential victims for whom they bear a responsibility, often unrecognised.

We Guarantee Complete Confidentiality of Your Data

Thanks to the highly confidential handling of every case submitted to our private and corporate detective agency in Hanover, victims can be assured that their data remains secure. Our detectives assist not only in gathering evidence but also in identifying perpetrators, contributing to justice for both offenders and victims, while helping to reduce the incidence of rape and sexual assault. Contact our detectives for a personal consultation: +49 511 2028 0016.

Author: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

 

Kurtz Detective Agency Hannover

Kampsriede 6A

D-30659 Hanover

Tel.: +49 511 2028 0016

E-Mail: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-hannover.de

Web: https://www.kurtz-detektei-hannover.de/en

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