According to a report, domestic violence in Germany has also increased in the second year of Corona.

In 2021, the authorities registered 161,000 victims of violence by partners or ex-partners, the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” reported, citing the interior ministries and criminal investigation departments of the federal states.

This corresponds to an increase of 1.3 percent compared to 2020. At the same time, the report pointed out that the number of unreported cases was high because many victims did not dare to report it.

Two thirds of the recorded victims are women.

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) told the newspaper that the government wanted to “regulate access to protection and advice by federal law, create a uniform legal framework for reliable financial security for the support system and expand it as needed.” The range of support is around 350 women’s shelters, 100 shelters and more than 600 counseling centers inadequate.

"That's why we are continuing to expand women's shelters and counseling centers together with the federal states and are making 120 million euros available from federal funds until 2024."

Significant increase in eight federal states

According to the "Welt am Sonntag", Thuringia recorded the strongest increase in domestic violence with 24 percent (3,227 victims).

This is followed by Lower Saxony (plus 12.9 percent, 22,405 victims) and the state of Bremen/Bremerhaven (plus 9.1 percent, 3,018 victims).

Saarland (minus 7.1 percent, 2,653 victims) and Hamburg (minus 6.3 percent, 5,058 victims) reported the largest declines.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Family Minister Joachim Stamp (FDP) called the numbers shocking.

"The effects of the corona pandemic, such as strict contact restrictions or quarantine periods, have increased the incidence of domestic violence." With an increase of 4.7 percent and a total of 34,235 registered victims, North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the eight federal states in which the numbers increased.