Women refugees at risk of sexual assault in Berlin shelters
May 10, 2017
A six-month IRIN investigation into Berlin shelters reveals that female refugees in Germany have grossly inadequate protection from sexual and gender-based violence. Minimum standards are not legally binding and rarely enforced or monitored, while dozens of women interviewed said they had experienced sexual harassment, a lack of support, and reported living in fear of being assaulted.
One night last year, Sally Abazeed, a 20-year-old refugee from Syria, was desperate to get out of the stuffy, crowded shelter where she was staying in Berlin. So, when a security guard asked if she wanted to accompany him to get a kebab, she accepted. “Someone to protect me,” she thought. But on the way to the shop, the man started flirting: “Tell the LaGeSo [Regional Office for Health and Social Affairs] you’re going to move in with me,” he said, grabbing her hand and kissing it. For days afterwards, he pestered Sally for her phone number.
