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
— dwnews (@dwnews) January 5, 2016
Typical sexism: women are assaulted, and it´s them to blame for not keeping #einearmlaenge
— Carolina Velasco (@cvelascoparra) January 5, 2016
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
— maajid nawaz (@MaajidNawaz) January 5, 2016
Germany's response to the moslem rape epidemic is advising women to keep an arm length between themselves & the rapists. #einearmlaenge
— AM (@ArRuple) January 6, 2016
I thought New Year's aggressions would lead to smthg more constructive than #Victimblaming #einearmlaenge pic.twitter.com/h5KOfFS6r0
— Marion Guth (@MarionGuth) January 6, 2016
+++ baby, you ain't kiddin' +++ @QTarantino_news #koeln #reker #einearmlaenge #epicfail pic.twitter.com/2Nu6AxmYLN
— zu schön (@zuschoen) January 6, 2016
Immer #EineArmlänge ??? pic.twitter.com/IuyRxwNozz
— Schattenwolf (@Schattenwolf_) January 6, 2016
DAS ist #eineArmlänge https://t.co/QN8XfRTNxf
— The Real C_Holler (@C_Holler) January 5, 2016
Avoid harm – use your arm! #einearmlänge
— Sandro G (@saedig) January 5, 2016
Cologne's female mayor: women must "maintain arm's length distance to strangers". Everything about this depresses https://t.co/8qkrawHnmj
— Catherine Mayer (@catherine_mayer) January 5, 2016
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