© AP/Hermann J. Knippertz
A huge number of police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday
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.
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.
Comment: The rape of any woman can never be excused or forgiven. But before even knowing what had happened that night in Cologne, the international media began to beat the drums of racism and Islamophobia from the minute the story broke. The only beneficiaries of this manufactured crisis were the neonazis and the powers that be that want to see Europe - and especially Germany - fall to pieces so that it can become easier to control. Using the refugee crisis to fulfill this strategy of division is only part of a bigger plan.
Read also: Mayor of German city where women were sexually assaulted during New Year's celebrations blames women for attacks