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  • 4 months ago
A sexual assault case has once again brought Germany’s statute of limitations for rape into the public debate. Author Claudia Wuttke's case is being compared to that of Gisele Pelicot in France.

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00:00Of course, it happened to me something terrible.
00:01We have a German right, and that has holes.
00:05And my case fits into this hole.
00:07And that's why I fight in our German state for the novellation of the law of sexual crime.
00:15Claudia Wutke's story begins in 2025, she says, but her case stretches back long before then.
00:23Last year, she was informed by police of screenshots taken from footage showing a clearly incapacitated
00:29woman being forced into sex acts.
00:31It was her.
00:32Similarities have been made to the case of Giselle Pellicot.
00:36Insofern, I am very grateful for her, but I don't want to be compared with her.
00:40Police told Wutke they'd found 67 videos, allegedly filmed over a 16-year period by her ex-partner.
00:47The statute of limitations has run out on all but two of those recordings.
00:52Only those cases can be prosecuted.
01:13In Germany, the five-year statute of limitations on rape can be extended if there are aggravating factors.
01:20That includes situations where the victim is incapacitated, but only if that can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
01:27Claudia Wutke says she is convinced she was drugged, but cannot prove it.
01:32It could no one of these cases.
01:34I didn't, because I wasn't aware of it.
01:37I couldn't prove it.
01:37I couldn't prove it.
01:39The government is planning to discuss potential changes to the legislation around sexual assault cases later this year.
01:45For us, it's important that it's just a court-righteous regulation.
01:49Because we know that it should also be in the interest of one of these regulations.
01:56But any reform now may come too late for Claudia Wutkes case.
02:01Wieso hat man nicht auch sozusagen ein rechtliches Instrumentarium zu sagen, die Vergewaltigung
02:08oder die Straftat fängt dann an zu verjähren, wenn sie bekannt wird?
02:11In meinem Fall war sie einfach nicht bekannt.
02:13As she waits to go to trial, she's decided to go public and start an awareness campaign.
02:18Ungebrochen.
02:19In English undeterred.
02:21Was ich gebraucht hätte, wäre eine Community, ein Austausch mit Frauen, die Ähnliches erlebt
02:28haben und nicht damit wir schimpfen und meckern und wie schlimm alles ist, sondern um uns
02:33gegenseitig zu bestärken, wie toll wir das schaffen und wie wir uns immer wieder aufrichten.
02:38We are angry, we are disappointed in this system.
02:41Wir brauchen konsequente Veränderungen sowohl in der Politik, sowohl im Gesetz und sowohl in
02:46der Gesellschaft.
02:46Und natürlich ist mein Leben heute nicht mehr das, was es für einen Jammer war, das ist völlig
02:49klar.
02:50Also ich komme ganz stark in meinem eigenen Wertungsprozess von der Selbstentwertung in die Selbstermächtigung
02:56und das ist ein innerer Prozess des inneren Wachstums.
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