On 18 October, the Konferenz gegen sexistische Polizeigewalt—110 Gründe das Schweigen zu brechen! (Conference Against Sexist Police Violence—110 Reasons to Break the Silence!) will take place at bUm Berlin. It will have two panels: “Where do we stand in the fight against sexualised police violence in Germany?” and “What can we learn from international experiences with sexualised repression?” We have spoken with its organisers in a written interview, which we reproduce below.
Can you start by telling us more about yourselves and the groups organising this conference?
We are organising this conference jointly between ZORA, an autonomous anti-capitalist young women’s organisation, and TSP (Prisoners’ Voice Platform), a solidarity organisation for political prisoners.
ZORA is active in Germany, France, and Austria. We organise street actions, educational events, and lectures centred on the anti-patriarchal struggle, internationalism, and class struggle. We were founded in 2015, following the events of New Year’s Eve—when widespread sexualised violence against women occurred, followed by a wave of racist agitation. We formed to oppose this instrumentalisation of sexualised violence and to fight against its root cause: the patriarchy.
TSP is a solidarity group that addresses the current situation regarding political prisoners and state repression, extending solidarity beyond prison walls directly to the prisoners themselves. Through lectures and events, we provide information on current developments regarding repression, conditions of detention, the situation of political prisoners, and their struggles. Our work also includes street actions and organising direct solidarity—such as collective letter-writing campaigns—to bring the voices of political prisoners to the public and to society at large.
How did the idea to organise a conference come about?
The idea for this conference emerged over a year ago: alongside the broad movement in solidarity with Palestine and in opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Germany saw a widespread wave of repression. Bans on gatherings were issued daily, demonstrations were attacked by the police, and protesters were brutally beaten up. For weeks, hardly a day went by without a confrontation between the state and protesters. On March 8, 2025 (International Women’s Day), a demonstration took place in Berlin that specifically highlighted the situation of Palestinian women. Following the protest, videos went viral showing female participants experiencing sexualised violence at the hands of police officers: one protester was forcibly dragged from the crowd and thrown to the ground, and her skirt was repeatedly pulled up. One of the officers pinning her to the ground pressed her face against his crotch until she lost consciousness. In the weeks that followed, comrades shared their own experiences, and we began to exchange views. We gradually realised that many of us had already been subjected to sexualised violence by the police. The experiences of our comrades, the sense of shame that initially affected many of us, and the lack of public discussion on the issue made it clear that this was not merely a matter of standard repression, but that the state was resorting to new methods—methods we must neither passively endure nor normalise, but rather define as a political battleground. That is precisely why we need to come together: to analyse current developments, organise solidarity, and discuss shared perspectives in the fight against sexualised police violence.
What is the history of sexualised violence by police in Germany?
Internationally, capitalist states—such as the fascist Turkish state or the Zionist Israeli state—have employed sexualised violence for decades as a method of torture, whether in custody or on the streets against female demonstrators. Yet, its use has also been on the rise in Germany in recent years. There have been past instances of sexualised violence by the police or in custody. For example, testimonies indicate that humiliating strip searches were repeatedly conducted on RAF prisoners. Assessing trends regarding sexualised violence by the police is difficult, as few documented cases have come to public attention. Only in recent years have we seen an increasing number of reports in which activists have publicly denounced their experiences of sexualised violence at the hands of police officers, particularly during police operations.
What makes sexualised violence by police different from other forms of police violence?
Sexualised violence generally fits into a millennia-old system of patriarchal oppression—a system that has developed numerous methods to maintain male supremacy. We must recognise that sexualised violence is a targeted attack on a person’s bodily autonomy—specifically regarding when and by whom one is touched, or who sees one unclothed. At its core, this is a system of violence and oppression designed to suppress the potential of women and LGBTI+ individuals as a social force. It looms over every aspect of our lives, influences our decisions, instils fear, and prevents us from living freely and according to our own will. We are meant to succumb to a sense of hopelessness and abandon any belief that these circumstances might ever change. This is compounded by the general nature of repression, which aims to render us powerless in the face of the state’s apparent overwhelming might. Thus, when the police perpetrate sexualised violence, the institution exploits the social stigma surrounding the violence experienced, using that very same logic to attempt to stamp out our protest and resistance. Sexualised violence is deployed—particularly when we are organising resistance and drawing on collective strength—to force us back within the confines imposed by the state and the system. This is exacerbated by the fact that there is often little chance to escape the situation—whether in a side street during a police operation or in the isolation of a cell. Furthermore, the state exploits ambiguous legal frameworks and the pretext of standard investigations to absolve itself of any wrongdoing by framing these acts as routine procedures. Yet, regardless of the arguments put forward by the police, the court, or any other institution, it is clear to us that these are obviously attacks on our bodily autonomy intended to intimidate us.
Are there particular groups who are especially exposed to sexualised police repression?
Women and trans people, in particular, are targeted by this violence; however, it can be said that people of all genders face state-perpetrated sexualised violence. Since sexualised violence is a patriarchal method aimed at oppressing women and LGBTI+ people, the state targets them in this context as well. In the case of trans people, we observe a systematic pattern where, under the pretext of gender verification, they are subjected to genital touching or forced strip searches. Frequently, requests to be searched by an officer of the same gender are disregarded if the corresponding gender marker is not listed on their identification documents.
Do you think sexist police violence results as an intimidation technique and affects people’s willingness to protest?
Sexist police violence is clearly intended to serve as a means of intimidation. It is an attempt to instil fear in us before any political action. What if they order me to undress? What if they forcibly strip me because I refuse to comply? This feeling is meant to take precedence over our desire for justice and freedom—causing us to focus primarily on the repression we might face rather than on the political goals we have set for ourselves. Yet, whether or not this intimidation succeeds lies not in the hands of the state, but in our own. We must understand why we face repression and why the state is resorting to harsher methods amidst current developments. At the same time, we must be clear about our goals and the convictions that drive us to take to the streets in the first place, so that we can withstand any form of repression.
How seriously are allegations of sexualised violence by police investigated?
As things stand, while investigations into cases of sexualised violence do take place, such cases rarely reach the courts. We must acknowledge that, in many federal states, the legal framework governing investigative measures lacks specificity; consequently, allegations are often dismissed under the guise of routine examinations. At present, however, we are unaware of any cases in Germany where activists have taken their experiences of sexualised violence to court.
One of the panels during the conference will be about international experiences. What can Germany learn from other countries?
The struggle against sexualised police violence or sexualised violence in detention has been waged internationally for decades. Consequently, we can learn from diverse experiences regarding both analysis and methods of resistance. For instance, a speaker from the women’s magazine Sosyalist Kadin will share insights from Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. Throughout the history of the Turkish state, rape in custody has been widely used as a tool of sexualised violence—primarily to break the identities of politically active women or to extort false confessions. For a long time, however, this violence was treated as taboo, and these experiences remained unspoken behind bars. Turkish communist Asiye Güzel eventually broke the silence regarding her rape in custody and the coerced false confession that resulted from it. Numerous testimonies and publications by former female political prisoners followed, and a campaign against this violence was launched. In the 2000s, a conference against rape in custody was organised, bringing together hundreds of women to share their experiences publicly. Through all these efforts, rape in custody was effectively pushed back. This offers us a clear example: the goal is not merely to bring this violence to public attention, but to demonstrate that we are truly capable of mounting a practical resistance against it. Looking at Israeli prisons, too, we see women organising resistance and a collective way of life, using their collective will to confront daily violence. Above all, these international experiences show us that we do not stand alone in this struggle; hundreds of thousands of women around the world are joining us to oppose this violence. We can look to these women as role models, learn from their struggles, and collaboratively develop methods to combat sexualised violence. So, when states attempt to break our political will through sexualised violence, we will reach out across all boundaries—even behind prison walls—and fight together.
