According to the White Ring, violence in partnerships and families has increased significantly during the corona pandemic.
»In 2020, domestic violence has increased by around ten percent, and since 2018 by as much as 20 percent.
And we will probably reach the level of 2020 again this year, «said the federal chairman of the White Ring, Jörg Ziercke.
In total, the volunteers in the around 400 branch offices of the victim protection organization looked after around 17,000 cases in 2020.
20 percent of this relates to domestic violence, as Ziercke said.
Another 26 percent of all cases are sexual offenses.
"The prognosis that domestic violence will increase with the pandemic and the lockdown and that this will become clear with a delay effect has been confirmed," said Ziercke.
A few weeks after the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, the trend jumped upwards and the willingness of the victims to get in touch increased.
But that does not mean a clear brightening of the dark field.
In view of »the constant sitting on top of each other in lockdown phases», the dark field has actually increased - in other words: Many cases of domestic violence are still not recorded.
Around 80 percent of the victims of domestic violence are women, said Ziercke.
The total number of calls to the victim's telephone and online counseling has also increased, reported Ziercke, who was formerly head of the Federal Criminal Police Office.
From 2019 to 2020, the number of calls rose by around 4,000 to around 22,000, i.e. by around 20 percent.
"We believe that the trend will be on a similar level this year," said Ziercke.
The number of online consultations at the association for the support of crime victims even doubled from 2019 to 2020, to 3350 cases.
At the time, however, it was still brand new, and this could also be a reason.
This year, a plus of seven to ten percent can be expected again.
nil / dpa