Violence against children has increased significantly in Germany in the past year. That comes from the numbers of the police crime statistics, which were presented on Wednesday in Berlin. Above all, there was significantly more child pornography; the number of cases registered by the police rose by 53 percent. An increase of one-tenth compared to the previous year was registered in the abuse of those under protection. The officials also identified sexual abuse more frequently than in 2019 - the number rose by almost seven percent. 152 children were killed willfully or negligently or died as a result of assault; a year earlier there were 112 children. The abuse commissioner of the federal government, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, called the numbers "unbearable". Germany has reached a "tipping point":"We have to prevent the system from collapsing."

The question of the extent to which the consequences of the corona pandemic have exacerbated the risk for children cannot be clearly answered from the investigators' point of view.

The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, emphasized that there was no direct connection between the pandemic and the number of cases.

The acts, although they appear in the statistics for 2020, did not all occur in the past year.

The statistics record the cases at the time the police finish their processing.

More than a quarter of the recorded crimes did not happen in 2020, but already before.

Mostly in the home environment

Münch also admitted, however, that it stands to reason that the exceptional situation as a result of the pandemic could have favored certain acts. The vast majority of acts of violence against children take place in the home. As a result of the lockdowns, many adults were at home more often, had to spend a lot of time together in a confined space, and were often more irritable. The children were also more at home because of the lack of leisure opportunities and because of homeschooling. In addition, possible supporters of the children, who otherwise paid attention to their integrity, are less likely to have had access to them. Children and young people were therefore more exposed to potential violent criminals from their immediate environment than before.

Many adults also spent more time on their home computer. According to Europol, the consumption of child pornography in Europe rose by around a third in the first corona lockdown.

BKA President Münch pointed out, however, that he expected a further increase in the number in the coming years. That has to do with the fact that acts that were previously in the dark are only visible in the first place. The procedures for identifying suspicious files on the Internet are getting better and better, and at the same time international cooperation between investigators is getting closer. In addition, there would be extensive investigations into child porn rings in Germany as well as a development among young people to pass such material on to one another without pedosexual motivation as a test of courage. At the same time, Münch made it clear that the perpetrators were becoming more professional, especially when it came to child pornography; Forums are being organized more accurately and encrypted communication is spreading.

The abuse officer Rörig called for a nationwide strategy to combat sexual violence online. In order to develop such a strategy, the next Bundestag should set up a study commission with experts. Rörig also demanded that the police and the judiciary be massively increased. Investigations should not fail because search warrants are not carried out and data carriers are not evaluated. Sexual violence on the internet “seems to be slipping away from us”, the digital space is being “flooded” with child pornography. It should no longer be “a paradise for pedo criminals”. But the analog world should not be lost sight of, said Rörig: "There is sexual violence everywhere, it is sad everyday life."