Femicide: North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Justice needs to introduce a brand new homicide criterion in prison legislation | EUROtoday

NRW Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) is in favor of introducing femicide – i.e. the killing of girls due to their gender – as a brand new attribute of homicide. “If a woman wants to separate or a daughter wants to freely choose her boyfriend, and a man thinks that it is his right to end her life rather than allow that to happen: This speaks of such baseness, such a seriousness of criminality, that it is equivalent to other characteristics of murder such as insidiousness or greed,” Limbach informed the “Rheinische Post”.

That’s why he thinks it is justified to impose such acts “with the highest punishment that we provide. There is this consideration at the federal and state levels, and I support it,” he informed the newspaper. In femicides, the perpetrators “made themselves the master of life and death and the woman the object.”

The North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office introduced a examine on femicides for the primary time final August. Accordingly, nearly each third (31.3 %) tried or accomplished murder of girls between 2014 and 2023 might be categorized as femicide. Femicides are sometimes “the result of long-standing violence, control and deep-rooted power fantasies,” defined North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on the time.

According to the report, 87 % of femicides have been relationship crimes – usually the crimes have been dedicated by present or former companions. Many perpetrators confirmed a strongly patriarchal picture of girls, which was accompanied by management, possessiveness and jealousy, it was mentioned. The crime was often triggered by an introduced or already accomplished separation or divorce.

Limbach now not needs to punish fare evasion

In addition, Limbach now not needs to punish fare evasion on public transport, a plan that the Greens and the Left have repeatedly known as for. “A change in the law is long overdue,” Limbach informed the “Rheinische Post” and addressed a corresponding demand to Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD). The Conference of Justice Ministers of the federal states had already requested the federal authorities in 2022 to submit a legislative proposal to abolish prison legal responsibility for driving with out a ticket. This has not but occurred.

“The criminal offense of driving without a ticket should be removed from the law and the associated administrative offense should be removed as well,” mentioned Limbach. “Instead of putting people in jail for not paying a bus or train ticket, we should focus on tackling real crime that has a serious impact on society.” The minister criticized these quick substitute jail sentences for individuals who couldn’t pay their tickets, which had occupied total generations of attorneys. “We should make better use of our valuable resources from public prosecutors and courts in the future.”