Germans mock Mayor of Cologne after she suggests 'code of conduct' for women to avoid rape

Greg P. | 1:52 PM on January 06, 2016

Henriette Reker, the mayor of Cologne, Germany, is taking heat over her recent statement that women need to adopt a “code of conduct” to avoid getting raped in the wake of reports that dozens of women were sexually assaulted on New Year’s Eve allegedly by men of “Arab or North African” descent.

In other words, blame the victim:

Cologne Mayor tells women how to act in public to prevent sexual assault https://t.co/drrX9SjHlj pic.twitter.com/SynByvDjYd

— Independent US (@IndyUSA) January 5, 2016

And one of her suggestions — “maintaining an arm’s length distance from strangers” — has inspired the hashtag #einearmlaenge (one arm length) where Germans vented their outrage at the victim blaming:

#Cologne mayor recommends women keep "one arm length distance" to avoid assaults like on NYE. Twitter lashes back under #einearmlaenge

— DW News (@dwnews) January 5, 2016

https://twitter.com/cvelascoparra/status/684498626798841856

Asking victims to change their behaviour means offenders won't need to change theirs, wrong approach to preventing crime #einearmlaenge

— Tina Kretschmer (@DocTinaK) January 6, 2016

^ Mayor of Cologne Henriette Reke issues 'behaviour guidance' to German women, and not to the male perpetrators?? https://t.co/DNjZ58owEo

— أبو عمّار (@MaajidNawaz) January 5, 2016

https://twitter.com/ArRuple/status/684791940458655744