SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany)
Halfway into the 2012 edition, incidents of sexual abuse at Munich’s Oktoberfest are on the rise as compared to last year, Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reports
One woman was raped behind a beer tent. “One rape is a rape too many,” says a report covering the first half of Oktoberfest by “Aktion sichere Wiesn für Frauen und Mädchen,” a group devoted to ensuring the safety of women and girls at the annual fest.
The rape victim came to a Security Point operated by the group after the crime, which was reported to the police in Munich. Police authorities stated that no rapes were reported at the Oktoberfest in 2011.
A further six incidents of sexual abuse had also been reported to the police by the time the 2012 “Aktion sichere Wiesn” report came out. During the first week, teams from various local help centers had seen 91 women, an increase of 40% over last year. Spokeswoman Christine Rudolf-Jilg said emergency points “were reaching their limits,” both in terms of space and the number of workers they had available to deal with cases.
Irritated by the continued perception of many that women who are involved in sexual abuse of any kind are somehow “asking for it,” feminist activist Anna-Katharina Meßmer said “somebody needs to teach men how to behave themselves.”
