Berlin to open women’s safe zone for New Year’s party
Police hope the area will prevent a repeat of the sexual assaults suffered in Cologne two years ago
NEW Year’s Eve celebrations in central Berlin will include a women’s safe zone for the first time, in the hope of preventing a repeat of mob attacks on female revellers during festivities in Cologne two years ago.
Up to a million guests are expected to attend the open-air event, which will take place around Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column landmarks. It features fireworks and pop acts such as Rednex and Whigfield this year.
The “women’s safety area”, as it will be marked, is being established at the request of Berlin police after similar zones have been set up at large public gatherings across Germany in recent years. The tent will be set up near a plaza adjacent to the landmark tourist attraction, and manned by representatives from the German Red Cross.
“There will be three to four [German Red Cross] helpers who are specially trained and can look after women who feel harassed or threatened,” Anja Marx, a spokesman for the celebrations, told rbb, the German state broadcaster.
A police spokesman told The Daily Telegraph that patrolling authorities planned to check in regularly with staff at the women’s safety tent and tend to instances of criminal offence.
Strict safety precautions, including the banning of large bags, rucksacks, suitcases, glass bottles and alcoholic beverages, will also be enforced.
Police have asked that participants “avoid aggressive persons and groups” and that female guests “can go to the women’s safety area if they feel harassed” at any stage during the night.
The guidelines also warn people to be especially aware of pickpockets operating across the event, with guests told to only carry small handbags containing just the essentials, meaning no valuables and little pocket money. About 500 security personnel will be on the premises, in addition to police. An extra 1,600 officers will also be deployed throughout the entire city this year.
Hundreds of women reported sexual attacks and robberies by men outside the main train station at Cologne’s public New Year’s Eve event in 2015-16, where law enforcement was heavily outnumbered by dense crowds.
Afterwards a leaked police report concluded that more than 1,200 women were sexually assaulted in various German cities at 2016 New Year’s celebrations.
More than 2,000 men were allegedly involved and around 120 suspects had been identified, the bulk of which being foreign nationals who were also new arrivals to Germany. The suspects were largely of North African and Arab background. The incident happened after Germany had accepted a record influx of more than one million migrants in 2015, mostly people who were fleeing conflict and poverty in Middle Eastern countries and elsewhere.
Cologne officials set up a “security point” for its 2016 carnival street festival following the mass attacks, which was staffed with social workers and psychologists. Extra security measures such as installing additional street lights were also taken.
Herbert Reul, interior minister of North Rhine-westphalia, the state where Cologne is located, told DPA, a German news agency, that authorities had “done everything” this year to ensure that the events of 2015-16 would not occur again.