Rape Culture in Germany

Gangs of Arab and North African youths attacked and assaulted German women in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve. At first, the authorities tried to cover it up, but the event was too public and too many people were involved.

Considering, as I mentioned yesterday, how many people were extolling German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her open arms policy toward Muslim immigrants, the story provides a stark reality check.

Perhaps the most ironic commentary involves the German version of PBS. Of course, it tried to cover up the incident, but more important was what it was broadcasting as the attacks were occurring.

The Daily Mail reports:

Germany's public service broadcaster ZDF has apologised for deciding not to cover the assaults on women that were reported in Cologne in its news.

While the attacks were being carried out, the station was broadcasting Angela Merkel's New Year's speech in Arabic.

Those who want to admit more Syrian and other Muslim refugees to America have often noted that America—that would be Franklin Roosevelt--  refused to allow European Jews entry into America during the Holocaust. Secular humanists believe that all people are human beings and that any effort to compare one culture to another, even to declare that one culture is superior to another is rank bigotry. Thus, there is no difference between Syrians and Jews and Norwegians.

Note too that the new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has conspicuously opened Canada’s borders to Syrian refugees. We’ll see how that one works out.

As everyone knows, some Arab and North African refugees bring with them cultural pathologies, among them a tendency to rape European women. Sweden and Norway are already suffering from these pathologies. The behavior was already present in German but the authorities had been trying to tamp down news coverage. They even tried to suppress the news out of Cologne. Now, the story has become too big to repress.

Some have argued that the perpetrators of the Cologne attacks had not arrived recently in the country. In effect, this is a distinction without a difference. Since none of them have been arrested yet we do not know where they came from. At the least, they were speaking Arabic and were identified as Muslim men.

They might have arrived yesterday. They might have arrived last year. With a larger number of their co-religionists, coupled with a pathological level of tolerance, they must have believed that there is strength in numbers and that they could do as they pleased.

Yesterday Cologne’s pro-immigrant mayor, Henriette Reker announced that women needed to take more precautions. (See Ed Driscoll onInstapundit.)

The Telegraph reported the story:

The Mayor of Cologne says women should adopt a “code of conduct” to prevent future attacks following trouble on New Year's eve when women in the city centre were subjected to sexual assaults by hundreds of men….

The proposed code of conduct includes staying an arm's length away from strangers, remaining within your own group, and asking bystanders for intervene or to help as a witness.

Such a code for young women and girls was designed " so that such things do not happen to them," said Ms Reker, who added that it would soon be available online.

Her words immediately provoked anger among those who said she appeared to be blaming the victims for the attacks.

And also:

However, she also said that visitors from “other cultures” should also be educated on acceptable conduct.

“We need to prevent confusion about what constitutes happy behaviour and what is utterly separate from openness, especially in sexual behaviour," she said.

It’s good to have women in charge. They seem not to be very inclined to protect women. Anyway, Reker is blaming the victims. They should not have been out on their own in a city infested with new and old immigrants.

Of course, the weak-kneed Reker wants to solve the problem by education. Because the best way to combat rape is through sensitivity training.

If anyone in America suggested that women need to adopt a new code of conduct and that they need to change their behavior he or she would have been greeted with howls of outrage. We will see how this plays out in Germany. Many German woman are saying as much right now.

Today the Daily Mail has the most extensive report. It notes that Cologne was not the only city to suffer such attacks on New Year’s Eve. Similar attacks occurred in Hamburg and Stuttgart. The paper reports on a young woman who went on national television to explain what happened to her:

An 18-year-old victim of the sex assaults in Cologne has described being surrounded by a group of 30 'angry' men who groped her and her friends then stole their belongings as they fled.

The teenager, named only as Michelle, appeared on German TV to recount the harrowing ordeal she endured during the city's New Year's Eve celebrations last week.

Police say the wave of attacks - which has so far seen 90 women report being assaulted - were perpetrated by groups of 'Arab or North African' men in the city centre.

Michelle's shocking testimony comes as the city's own council today admitted its town centre was now a 'no-go area' for women and similar attacks occurred the same night across Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Alarmingly, police in Dusseldorf fear the attacks may be linked to a known criminal gang comprising 2,000 North African men - who use sexual assault as a means of distraction.

And while German media stand accused of covering up previous incidents to avoid stoking tensions, there are fears the upcoming carnival celebrations in Cologne will see a repeat of the brazen attacks.

Note well that the city council of Cologne has declared the center of the city to be a “no-go area” for women. We recall that the suburbs around Paris have long been considered no-go areas for the police and firefighters.

The paper explains how women’s freedom has been seriously restricted by the presence of large numbers of Muslim men:

Cologne city councillor Judith Wolter wrote a letter urging people to avoid the city centre after declaring it unsafe 'for women' in the wake of the attacks.

Mrs Wolter, a council group leader and opposition councillor, also warned the upcoming carnival should be considered equally dangerous.

She wrote: 'The area in and around the central station, the cathedral and the adjoining area towards the banks of the Rhine can be for tourists [and locals] no longer considered - even in normal times - as safe.'

Describing months of petty crime in the area, including drug dealing, robberies and thefts, she warned it should now be classed a 'no-go area'.

'Especially for women, it must be assumed that there is a high security risk here in the evening and night.'

She went on to state the upcoming carnival should be considered a 'similar situation' in which police are unable to guarantee revellers' safety.

Finally, Islamic groups in Germany have blamed the police and the patriarchy. Surely, we ought to ask how the police did not know what was happening and allowed themselves to be overwhelmed, but any solution would involve a certain amount of profiling and even hard-nosed police work.

Finally, from Syrian Islamic studies expert, a woman named Lamya  Kaddor:

The direction that the reports are taking disturbs me. Patriarchal behaviour is not just a problem in Islam, it is also problem in South America and India, so not just in Muslim countries.'

There you have it, multiculturalism reduced to moral equivalence. If that is the way the Muslim community sees these crimes, then the police will have to deal with it themselves.

[Here's an eyewitness account of the events in Cologne, thanks to friend S--. It is far more harrowing than the newspaper reports: