In Germany, almost every day, a femicide occurs. These are gender-based killings of women and girls. This is one of the findings from the report on crimes against women presented by Nancy Faeser, the Federal Minister of the Interior, and Lisa Paus, the Federal Minister for Women. The report also includes figures on digital violence against women. Over 17,000 women and girls became victims of digital violence last year, marking a 25 percent increase compared to the previous year. The aid organization HateAid calls for tougher action against deepfakes, which are becoming easier to create using AI.
According to the report, 62.3 percent of the victims of digital violence are female. Only known cases can be evaluated, indicating a potential number of unreported incidents. Digital violence includes crimes like cyberstalking and cybergrooming, where minors are lured into traps, such as being coerced into sharing revealing images and then being blackmailed with them. Police managed to apprehend nearly 13,000 suspects.
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) created the report and states that the reasons for the increase in violence against women are varied. One reason is societal changes: the increasing emancipation of women can be perceived by men as a threat to their male position in traditional role models due to the still prevalent patriarchal structures in society. Additionally, hate messages against women are widely spread on the internet, increasing the propensity for violence.
However, the willingness of women to report such incidents has also increased, as they are less willing to tolerate it silently. This also contributes to the higher numbers in statistics. The recorded crimes are initially captured as such and committed using the “internet as a tool.”
HateAid calls for stricter measures against image-based sexualized violence. These are recorded under “violation of privacy through image recordings” and have more than doubled since 2021. Anna-Lena Hodenberg, CEO of HateAid, states, “These numbers are shocking and must wake us up. They confirm what we at HateAid have long observed with great concern. An entire generation of young girls and women is defenseless against sexualized violence on the internet. AI exacerbates this development.”
HateAid has long demanded that providers of so-called face swap apps and AI image generators should no longer advertise the creation of sexualized deepfakes. App stores should also be held accountable.
The BKA has already established the Central Reporting Office for Criminal Content on the Internet (ZMI BKA), and in collaboration with the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office, there is the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT). Additionally, the BKA is involved in scientific research on phenomena such as cybergrooming.