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Photo:
Matthias Balk / dpa
The woman was in her mid-twenties and only gave a first name.
This is how she introduced herself to the Lower Saxony Victims Aid in the summer of 2019.
"She said a man raped her three days ago," recalls victim counselor Silke Lorenz.
"The story sounded brutal."
A flirt at the disco, a few messages, a reunion in the young woman's apartment.
Suddenly he slaps her, hits her, penetrates her.
And goes as if nothing had happened.
"He is supposed to have said that it was clear that one would have sex," says Lorenz.
The young woman had considered whether to report the man.
And then decided against it.
"She was afraid that people wouldn't believe her," says Lorenz.
"And she didn't feel strong enough to repeat her story in front of investigators."
Tens of thousands of crimes happen in Germany every day, about which the police never find out.
The victims remain silent out of fear.
Or because it is not worth it for them to go to the station just because an old bike has been stolen.
The problem is, no one knows how safe or unsafe the country actually is.
How many crimes are committed.
Where the police should look more closely.
A country that meticulously records the slaughter prices of pigs statistically is almost blind when it comes to everyday crime.
Because there is a lack of data.
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