Brutalising society leads to surge in crime rate in Europe
A penitentiary supervisor opens a door of the parlor unit of Europe's largest prison in France. Photo AFP, Ludovic Marin
European Union
The number of crime victims is growing all over Europe. Prisons are overflowing, and the age of the perpetrators is decreasing.
Recently, there was a large outcry in Germany over teenage girls who killed their peer, the twelve-year-old Luisa, in Freudenberg. Soon after, there was an incident in which girls beat up another child in Heide. And after that, students beat up their teacher and a classmate in Germany, Die Tagespost writes. Last year, 93,095 children under 14 were suspected of a crime. That is an increase of 35.5 per cent compared to a year earlier.
Overall, the number of crimes is on the rise in Germany. The number of thefts and burglaries increased by some 10 per cent to about 78 million incidents. Also, the statistics on violent crime show an upward trend. For example, last year, there were 8.160 knife attacks, compared to 7,071 in 2021.
Sex crimes
And not only in Germany but in several European countries, crimes and acts of aggression are on the rise. Danish statistics show the same growing curve after a few years of decline, Kristeligt Dagblad reports. In total, the number of victims of reported crimes increased by 8120 victims to a total of 67,989.
About half of these victims said to be exposed to violence, Kristeligt Dagblad writes. The newspaper points out that the majority of victims are female. Regarding sexual crimes, 87 per cent of the victims are women. When it comes to violence related to honour, females make up 82 per cent of the victims.
Public recognition
Rainer Wendt, German chairman of the German police union, worries about the age of perpetrators becoming lower and lower. He points out that social media plays a significant role in this. “Some crimes are committed because of the existence of social networks”, he tells Die Tagespost. “The fact that the three girls in Heide filmed their act shows that the crime is committed to show it off on social networks to get public recognition.”
Wendt points out that crimes are brutalising because perpetrators use weapons more and more often. “It is no longer unusual for young people to carry a knife with them and also to consider using it. Today, there is often a knife under the Christmas tree for 11-year-olds.”
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