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Erfurt (dpa / th) - Only a few reports of an alleged sexual offense in Thuringia lead to a conviction of the accused - even if the police consider such a crime to be solved.

If between 1,400 and 1,800 cases of so-called criminal offenses against sexual self-determination are registered each year, significantly fewer than 300 convictions are counted annually, according to an evaluation by the State Ministry of Justice for the German Press Agency.

The police give their clearance rate at around 85 and 89 percent and present around 1100 to 1300 suspects each year.

A Justice Department spokesman said the reasons there were few convictions based on the number of complaints were multiple.

In many preliminary proceedings, the alleged acts could not be proven from a public prosecutor's point of view - or there was insufficient evidence against the alleged perpetrators.

In such proceedings, the statements of the victims would regularly stand against the statements of the accused.

Further evidence is often not available, but it is needed in order to be able to provide unambiguous evidence.

The statements of the victims are often contradictory or they are completely revoked in the course of the investigation.

It is not uncommon for the victims to provide no further information after making an initial statement to the police or the public prosecutor's office.

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Thuringia's Justice Minister Dirk Adams (Greens) warned that in order to be able to pursue such crimes consistently and effectively, the investigative authorities would have to work closely together.

"It is known from criminological research that the probability of detection scares off potential perpetrators, not the abstract threat of punishment."

In addition, you need low-threshold offers to which those affected, but also possible witnesses, could turn to report suspected cases.

"More education and encouragement is needed to break the silence around such acts," he said.

That is why the justice ministers of the Greens in Germany would also urge that misogynist crimes be recorded separately.