Sexual Violence Cases Against Children Rise in Germany Over the Past Five Years

The number of sexual violence cases against children in Germany has increased significantly over the past five years. Police recorded 17,126 cases last year, an increase of nearly 1,600 cases compared with 2021, according to the federal report on “Sexual Crimes Against Children and Adolescents” issued by the Federal Criminal Police Office and presented in Berlin on Tuesday.

Compared with 2024, the number of cases increased by 772 last year. Investigations again showed that in more than half of the cases, there had been a previous relationship between the victims and suspects. The number of cases involving adolescents also increased from 1,191 to 1,239.

Under German criminal law, children are defined as individuals under the age of 14.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Federal Criminal Police Office President Holger Münch, and Germany’s commissioner for victims of sexual abuse, Kerstin Claus, presented the figures in Berlin.

According to the data, 18,736 victims were recorded in child sexual abuse cases, an increase of 3.6%. A child may be counted more than once in the statistics if they were repeatedly subjected to abuse.

The number of female victims reached 13,870, compared with 4,866 male victims. The number of suspects also rose from 12,368 to 12,823 people.

The report noted that suspects are mostly men who acted alone.

The statistics reflect only crimes that became known to police and were handled by authorities, including attempted offenses, which are classified as “recorded incidents.”

Therefore, the figures are also affected by crime reporting rates. The report stated: “Alongside the incidents identified by police in this report, a large number of unreported cases is assumed to exist.”